Fantastic Baby
by Cassix
Summary: Trapped in the mellow hum of the city in Japan, Date comes to a realization that dancing has become rather boring to him. Not even his friend Motochika can pull him out of his rut after moving in. However, in a spontaneous getaway to the club, Date runs into a rather feisty little tiger of a dancer. Can this cub bring the spark back into the dragon's melancholic life? AU. DateSana.
1. Catch Me If You Can

**A/N:** Hi there guys! Welcome to Fantastic Baby! This is a co-written story between **Bambino-Rotto** and the creator** Cassix** (which is why the story is posted on my profile). We have spent a long time researching things for this and planning this out, so hopefully you'll all really like this.  
Go to Cassix's profile to get character references for the outfits and also to see some scenes that she's drawing.  
Now, to clarify a few things: WE DO NOT OWN SENGOKU BASARA OR ANY OF THE SONGS USED. On a side note from that, for this chapter the song** Fantastic Baby by Big Bang** will be used. There will be a notice as to when you should start playing the song, so have it open in another tab waiting until then. It's not super important to listen to it, but it would definitely help set the mood. Enjoy!

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**Chapter One: Catch Me If You Can**

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A lone blue eye bore into the plain white ceiling focusing on the same spot it had been focused on for the past thirty minutes. Masamune groaned impatiently while sitting up from his lounging position on the couch in his living room. He knew why he was waiting, but it didn't make him any less impatient. Trying to occupy himself somehow, he changed the channel on his t.v. impatiently flipping the channels not really seeing what was on the screen. Not finding anything satisfying, he growled and all but slammed the small remote on the coffee table in front of him. A sharp resonating sound filled the air, and Masamune turned in his seat to see Kojuro standing in the kitchen with a large kitchen knife glaring at him.

"Masamune-sama, I understand that you are bored while waiting for Motochika-san to return, but please do not make a show of it. I am trying to prepare dinner for you after all," Kojuro said icily, but Masamune only waved him off.

"Yeah, I get it. I'll try to be more patient from now on. It's just, it's summer break! I can't be cooped up in here all of the time! It's not _cool_," he said proudly slipping in his one word English phrase. Kojuro sighed and placed his knife down on the cutting board where the leek he was slicing laid. He grabbed a towel and began drying his hands off.

"I understand that, but you can't very well leave when you know that Motochika-san needs us. His old house is next to Mori Motonari, right? That's quite a while away from here, and he never had time to pack his belongings before he was kicked out. It's important that you try to support him through all of this," Kojuro began.

"What the hell do you think I'm doing? I can't believe that Ieyasu would get Motochika kicked out of his house like that. I'm helping him out a lot, and I don't just mean letting him stay here with us," Masamune boasted proudly. Kojuro only sighed.

"Masamune-sama, I would like to remind you to think through your actions before you take them to prevent any unfortunate circumstances. I wouldn't want you doing anything too brash without even-"

Kojuro was then interrupted by the sound of the door opening. Masamune grinned widely and rushed to the door to greet Motochika who was carrying many boxes. He grabbed a few boxes from Motochika's load and smiled at the white haired teen.

"I figured you could use a hand with this. Is that _okay_?" He asked smugly before taking the boxes upstairs to a room. Motochika followed closely behind him with a mad grin on his face.

"It's more than okay since I figured you'd help me move the rest of my shit up here too," Motochika said cheekily.

"Yeah, yeah, afterwards. I'm bored, and I know you haven't been to the club in a while. Our usual spot's open tonight, so let's go," Masamune said all but pushing Motochika back to the entrance of the apartment. "I'm gonna help him move the rest of his shit, Kojuro!" He called out before slamming the door shut behind him. Both he and Motochika were laughing like mad by the time they had reached Motochika's motorcycle. Masamune glanced at the side car, unimpressed. "How in the hell did you even get everything to fit there andhave more to take in?" Motochika merely grinned.

"I roped everything in the sidecar down and took all of that inside first. I left everything in the underseat compartment though," Motochika explained holding a long string of rope before Masamune. Said teen examined the rope thoughtfully, even rubbing his chin as he did so.

"Alright… So, I guess you wouldn't mind-"

"You're riding the sidecar, you son of a bitch," Motochika abruptly interrupted. Masamune narrowed his eye at Motochika. Motochika returned the heated glare with his own sensing the mood from his one-eyed friend. "It's my motorcycle."

"But I rode sidecar last time. It's your turn," Masamune growled.

"I rode sidecar last time. I remember because you dropped your lunch on me," Motochika said just as menacingly.

"That was a month ago!" Masamune cried throwing his arms up as if it would help him prove his point more.

"That was the last time we rode together!" Motochika shouted getting testy with him. They growled and glared at each other. "I guess we're gonna have to decide this one way or another. I had hoped it wouldn't come down to that, but I'll do what I have to in order to escape riding side."

"I guess it's gonna have to come to that. Sorry if you get hurt in the process, I'm not one to go easy on anybody," Masamune warned his voice low and menacing. Motochika narrowed his eye to a mere slit.

"I wouldn't want you to take it easy on me. You might end up with a black eye to match that pretty eye patch of yours," Motochika said before walking back a few steps. Once they stood at less than an arm's length away, Motochika held out his hands as if to say "are you ready?" Masamune smirked.

"_Are you ready?_" He asked with a sneer. They both assumed a ready stance with one arm behind them.

"JAN! KEN! PON!"

As they shouted those words, they quickly flew out their hands in front of them. Motochika held out two fingers while Masamune held his hand in a clenched fist. Masamune smirked at Motochika before letting his fist fly into Motochika's face. Motochika was blown back a bit by the force of the punch, but he stood his ground. When he recovered from the shock of it, he wiped at his cheek giving Masamune a light glare.

"Dammit. I thought scissors would work this time," Motochika sighed as he stared sadly at the sidecar. Masamune kept up the smirk on his face as he brushed by Motochika to the motorcycle.

"Well, I won so get in loser," He ordered lightly turning on the motorcycle. Motochika stood still for a moment before begrudgingly hopping into the sidecar attached to the motorcycle. "_Here we go_!" Masamune revved the engine before taking off down the street.

Masamune pulled into a parking lot, turning off the engine. He kicked the kickstand down as he stood and glanced over at Motochika. He offered a very large grin. "Are you coming?" Motochika grinned widely as well and hopped out of the sidecar eagerly.

"Let's go! Quit dawdling around here!" Motochika laughed shoving Masamune out of the parking lot.

They walked around a short corner then turned to walk inside of a frosted glass door. Inside to the right was a long bar. People sat at sleek black bar stools ordering whatever drinks from the bartenders. To the far left of the room was a small stage with a karaoke machine attached to it. Many screens hung overhead for people to view the words of whatever song was being sung. Tables were spread between the stage and the bar, but the two teens walked by it all, not interested in what was found here. Instead, they traveled to the back of the room where a staircase guarded by a large man in a suit was. They approached the large man, Motochika just a few inches shorter giving a confident head nod to the man. The man said nothing but moved away from the staircase. The two looked at each other with a wicked grin wide on their face before they continued up the stairs. Graffiti art littered the walls of the staircase, yet the art would be something different every week.

As they finally made their way upstairs, they came across another door. This door was a black painted wood with red cushions protruding from the smooth surface. Masamune reached for the handle and opened the door allowing deafeningly loud music to fill the air. They strolled confidently inside, Masamune with his arms crossed, Motochika with his hands in his pockets. To the right was another bar, but no bar stools stood in front of it. It was a long counter with many bartenders behind it to serve drinks quickly. Around the walls of the room were many tables and couches for people to sit and chat or drink. Many people crowded the center of the room where the action was happening. The center of the floor was where the dance floor was, everyone there danced. Most people weren't great dancers, but passed with okay club dancing; however, there were always those few people who had exceptional dance moves. Those were the people Masamune and Motochika liked to spend their time with.

Masamune pulled Motochika to the left side of the room up a couple of stairs to a grand archway and onto the balcony outside. He turned and leaned his back on the cool white banister. When he caught Motochika's gaze he nodded his head towards the large dance floor. "So, anyone catch your eye?" Masamune asked viewing the dance floor carefully. Motochika twirled around glancing out onto the dance floor as well. They stood there for a good twenty minutes searching for any hopefuls on the dance floor. Motochika gave an aggravated sigh.

"I don't see anyone. Maybe we should just go," Motochika suggested restlessly. Masamune was reluctant, but he pushed himself from the banister.

"I'm not sure if we should go just yet. Let's just walk around for a bit," He said walking into the room. Motochika followed after him, the two shimmying their way across the dance floor. Just as they reached the end of the dance floor, movement to Masamune's left caught his eye. He turned to catch a glimpse of a black hood and a brown ponytail. He continued watching as the person walked further into the crowd before a new song started playing. Then, Masamune was mesmerized.

The person in the black hood looked down to their feet as they started dancing. They glided gracefully along the floor and shuffling their feet side to side. Masamune trailed his eyes from their red shoes up their white pants to a red shirt covered by a waist long black jacket, flames on the cuffs. They continued dancing with such grace and style that Masamune was awestruck. "Who… is she?" Masamune asked. Motochika turned to look at where Masamune was looking, grinning when his eyes fell upon the mystery girl.

"That's a good question. She's a wonderful dancer. I've never seen someone Melbourne Shuffle like that," Motochika said. The two teens stood there watching the girl as she danced across the floor, outclassing her friends she had brought. Motochika noticed Masamune shocked still, so he nudged him with his elbow. "What are you waiting for? Why don't you go dance with her?"

Masamune glanced to Motochika before grinning in thanks and moving towards the girl. By the time he had gotten close to her, the song had ended and various people offered the girl compliments on her dancing. Soon another song began playing and she started dancing again. Masamune smirked and started dancing as well, moving his way in front of the girl.

**_[Cue: Fantastic Baby - Big Bang]_**

"_Are you doing alright_?" Masamune asked gaining the girl's attention. She didn't lift her head enough for him to see her face, but she inclined her head towards him. It was enough for Masamune though, because up close he could see the brown bangs hiding her shy eyes. He could also see the necklace around her neck of the rokumonsen. Masamune smirked and started tutting, moving his arms and legs every which way in a carefully strewn together combo of sharp angles and slick movements. The way he moved told a story, and anyone who understood higher level dancing could tell he incorporated the lyrics in his moves. "You really have some great moves there. I'd like it if I could see your eyes though."

Masamune moved his arms to reach out to the girl, but the girl quickly scuffled and spun around so he would grab the back of her shoulder. He growled and spun her around to see a light blush dusting her cheeks. Masamune gave a short laugh and winked. "_Wow, fantastic baby_." The phrase was said matching the song, and Masamune gaining sudden inspiration picked up his dancing, trying a bit harder to impress this girl before him. The girl saw Masamune's sudden effort increase and also started doing more impressive things, a slightly cocky smile appearing on her face.

"You're really good. Let's see how far we can take this. Show me your all," Masamune said becoming lost in the music. The girl gave a short nod before also getting lost in the music. It wasn't long before the two forgot everyone else in the club and become focused on only each other. They both pushed each other to dance their best, performing outstanding dance moves they never knew they could do. Soon, they began almost battling each other with their moves to see who was superior. With every time that Masamune was really close to the girl, he always reached out to her only to be thwarted in his attempts every time. By the end of the song, both were panting from the exertion of energy. They had ended up standing close together, face to face. Masamune was looking down the girl, but the girl was still looking at the floor giving only her brown hair for Masamune to see. Masamune reached out a hand for the girl, placing it on her right shoulder.

"That, was an incredible dance," Masamune breathed out still trying to catch his breath. "I'd be honored if we could-"

Before Masamune could say another word, another hand grabbed the girl by her left elbow and pulled her away slightly. He followed the hand to see a boy standing behind the girl, his brown hair lighter than hers and held back by a black headband. His face had green paint on it and gave off an irritated expression, but his green eyes were impatient. "Danna, what were you thinking coming here? Master is worried sick wondering where you are." The girl turned to talk to the boy, but Masamune couldn't lean in to listen since a hand was on his shoulder as well.

"Masamune, Kojuro is fuming mad right now. We need to go home. Now," Motochika said trying to pull Masamune away. He struggled against Motochika's hand.

"Wait, Motochika, not yet! I wanna get her name first!" Masamune growled breaking free of Motochika's hold and looking back at the girl who was also struggling against her friend. She turned back to look at him but was pulled away by her friend. That last tug that was given made the girl's hood fall revealing large brown eyes lit with a certain fire that had him riled up. She was taken away in the crowd and the two disappeared leaving Masamune and Motochika on the dance floor when the next song started. Masamune smiled to himself as the image of the girl's eyes burned into his mind. "She was beautiful."

"Yeah, yeah, let's go! Kojuro's gonna have our asses I hope you know," Motochika reminded impatiently. Masamune snapped out of his stupor and cursed before running out the door with Motochika. They ran into the parking lot, and Masamune distracted by the mystery girl hopped into the sidecar before Motochika even reached the motorcycle. They drove off down the street, the dark haired teen relishing the feeling the cool wind gave his hot skin.

Motochika pulled into Masamune's apartment building's parking garage and sighed before shutting off the engine. "I wonder how mad he's gonna be," Motochika said getting off the motorcycle. Masamune remained seated, his mind still thinking about the girl he had met that night. Motochika gave an impatient growl and smacked his arm. "How long are you just gonna sit there?"

Masamune flinched at the smack and glared at Motochika before getting out of the sidecar. "What the hell was that for?" he asked. Motochika said nothing but pulled out his remaining belongings from the underseat compartment and giving half to Masamune. He begrudgingly took the items and gave a grimace to Motochika. "Whiney bitch."

"At least I wasn't the one who was smitten with some mystery girl all night," Motochika shot right back walking into the building's elevator without Masamune. Masamune scoffed and fell into step behind Motochika.

"You wouldn't be saying that if you had just danced with her. I swear, there's something special there. She had a nice fire in her eyes too. If only we could dance together again… I really want to talk to her," Masamune said finishing with a dreamy sigh. Motochika nudged the teen to get him off the elevator on the right floor. They continued walking down the halls side by side.

"Alright, so I didn't dance with her. I still wouldn't be as messed up as you are right now," Motochika snorted. Masamune glared at Motochika before nudging him in the side.

"I'm not messed up. I just really like her, and I happen to think she's a great dancer," Masamune said, justified. Motochika rolled his eyes and gave a sigh as they approached his apartment. The door swung open without anyone knocking and both teens gulped. In the doorway Kojuro stood glaring at both of them intensely.

"Is there a reason that it took the two of you a little over an hour to carry in those few trinkets?" Kojuro asked menacingly. Masamune gave a short awkward laugh before pushing his way inside. He started going upstairs to put Motochika's belongings away.

"So we may have gone to our favorite hangout place downtown. No big deal. We're back before late, right?" Masamune asked confidently. Kojuro gave an impatient sigh and walked towards him allowing Motochika entrance to the apartment.

"That's not the point, Masamune-sama. What if something had happened to the two of you while you were out? I would never have forgiven myself if something like that had happened," Kojuro said.

"Please, Kojuro. Nothing like that happened. Though Masamune did find himself a hot girl at the club he's got his eye on," Motochika teased, giving a wink to Masamune. Masamune froze on the stairs, a deep blush covering his face.

"What?! No! Shut up, Motochika or I'll kick your sorry ass out," Masamune growled from the stairs. Kojuro studied him closely before he allowed a slight smirk to show.

"So Masamune-sama fell in love then? Was it love at first sight?" Kojuro asked giving a slight chuckle at Masamune's mortified face.

"Totally was! You should've seen his face when he saw her! He was all dumbstruck and had the most stupid look on his face too! His face was like this," Motochika stopped talking to give a blank face with his mouth and eye open wide. Masamune growled and threw Motochika's toothbrush at his head.

"That's not what I looked like! And it wasn't love at first sight! We just danced together!" He denied emphatically. Both Kojuro and Motochika started laughing. "Shut up! You know what? Forget you two! I'm going to bed!" Masamune stomped up the remaining stairs and threw Motochika's remaining belongings on his bed before continuing to his room and slamming the door shut. He threw himself face first onto his bed and growled into his pillow.

Aggravated with the two downstairs, he grabbed his pillow and flipped onto his back. He glared at the ceiling while clutching the pillow close to his chest. His glare soon softened and he gave a soft sigh. Though he'd like to deny it, he couldn't deny the fact that there had to be some truth to him falling in love at first sight. There was something about the girl that pulled Masamune to her subconsciously, even still while Masamune was alone in his room. He was still thinking about the mystery girl and the strong fire in her brown eyes that seemed to light some fire within him.

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"Danna?" Sasuke questioned in a small whisper to avoid invading the privacy of others on the train. His friend still seemed distracted, staring out of the window at the passing city lights, his eyes glazed over with exhaustion and awe from their night at the club. Sasuke sighed, scratching just below the headband holding his brown hair back, "Yukimura!" he said a little louder with much more annoyance as he nudged his friend's side. That did the trick, for the boy snapped back to reality and looked around him as if they missed their stop. Finding he wasn't in any danger, he let his eyes fall on his friend, then eased himself into a familiar smile, "Yeah, Sasuke?"

Sasuke sighed and shook his head slowly as he looked at Yukimura, his hood hanging over his shoulders with his long brown ponytail splayed messily over it. His tan skin faintly glistened with sweat from dancing for so long at the club, as Yukimura must have been there for hours while Master was unaware and resting at home, "You okay? You've been quite out of it since we left the club. Did that man cause you any trouble?"

"M-Man, what man?" Yukimura fumbled in his words, his already slightly colored cheeks growing darker as he knew very well who Sasuke was referring to.

"The guy you were last dancing with. He seemed rather adamant on dancing with you, too…" The green eyed boy pressed his lips in a firm line as he grabbed a handle overhead to steady himself as the train stopped. Two more stops and they'd be home.

"No, he wasn't any trouble… And I do agree, he really pushed himself to dance with me," Yukimura looked up at the television screens absentmindedly as his eyes glazed over again in awe, "He was probably the first person I've ever danced with that… struck something in me. He had this great passion about him as he danced, and it seemed so natural. It was almost intimidating, but in a positive way." He laughed a little at his words and looked at his friend, who looked back at him with a dull expression, not sure how to react to such deep words.

"Well positive intimidation or not, I don't think he was there for a dance as much as he was there for a different idea of a fun night…" Sasuke said bluntly, letting his hand off the handle and finding itself back in his pants pocket. The train jerked forward as it continued on its run, causing Yukimura to stumble a little, caught off guard.

"W-What do you mean by that?!" He whispered with a puzzled expression, a light blush on his cheeks as he listened to his friend's rather blunt statements.

"I'm just saying, I don't think a guy who continuously refers to another guy he danced with - for a pretty decent amount of time, at that - as a girl has his head on right." With that, Yukimura couldn't do anything but pull his hood over his head in shame and keep his red tinted face glued to the window, watching the lights of the city dance like the fire his mysterious dance partner held earlier in the night.


	2. Equalizer

**A/N: **Sorry this took a little while. This chapter touches on a couple important points and introduces some more important characters to the story. Also, I'd like to make a note that, no, Yukimura is **not** a girl in this fic. In the club, the lights are pretty dim and the only source of lighting are either glowsticks worn by other people or the colored lights that flash from above. Date mistook him for a girl because of his ponytail, and quite possibly his small figure. This is why Sasuke gets a bit angry at Date, because he thinks Date pursued Yukimura for his own personal needs...

Anyway! Hope you enjoy this chapter, and constructive criticism is appreciated. I'll have the new characters' references up after my vacation (August 11th to the 18th) on the tumblr page that is linked on my profile. Enjoy!

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**Chapter 2: Equalizer**

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Sixty more seconds.

Jumping in place, rope smacking the floor at a monotonous rhythm to the fast paced music booming from the stereo, Yukimura focused his eyes on a particular spot in the distance across the gym. His rokumonsen bounced against his chest as he kept up the pace he had going for a good four minutes, the jump rope never missing a beat to the music.

Forty-five more seconds.

The brunette's lips parted ever so slightly as he tried his best to keep his breathing even in the final stretch of his warm-up. He allowed his eyes to close for a second and his head to lower as he stared at the checkered patterns on his shoes. Something was off about this warm-up... Heck, something was off in the music, the beat, the feel of it all. Yukimura just couldn't figure out for the life of him what it was that made him uneasy.

Thirty more seconds.

The front door opened then, allowing Sasuke, Yukimura's childhood best friend and housemate, to enter the boxing ring. He walked around the main arena to the weightlifting area kept behind it, where Yukimura was currently jumping rope. The training hall was owned by Master Shingen, who also happened to be their caretaker. Shingen was a renowned boxer, and his appearance definitely proved his worth as well as his underlying strength, but due to a career-ending injury he pulled himself out of the sport and now coaches both Sasuke and Yukimura (though Yukimura definitely proved to be the more dedicated pupil out of the two).

Ten more seconds.

Sasuke took a seat on one of the benches and placed Yukimura's bag, containing a change of clothes and a towel, next to him. His deep forest eyes set themselves on his best friend as he just about wrapped up his warm-up, slowing his pace until he was able to let the jump rope hang loosely in his hands. He panted heavily, the sweat dripping from his forehead down his face. Sasuke clapped slowly; less of an effort in praising the boy in red and more of a way to alert him of his presence.

"You ready to take a break?" Sasuke asked, pulling out a water bottle from the bag and throwing it to the brunette coming to sit next to him. Yukimura caught it effortlessly and nodded in response. Sasuke stretched his arms and propped a leg on the bench and rested his chin upon his knee, "That's a little odd, you seem a bit off today. I expected a… livelier you."

Yukimura smiled into the water bottle as he downed about a third of it. He sighed as he recapped the bottle and leaned back on bench while his eyes trailed up to the ceiling. With lips pressed in a firm line, he stared at the ceiling fans whirling around keeping his heated skin cooled.

"I guess you're right, something is a bit off..." he started, not looking at Sasuke as he spoke. Said boy was distracted looking for the remote to the stereo, which was still blaring insanely loud music into his poor eardrums. Seriously, how loud did this kid need his music for him to focus?

"Something on your mind?"

"You could say that."

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"..." Once the stereo was muted, Yukimura felt a sudden chill run down his spine as if to bring him back into the present, "I've been thinking about that one night at the club. About that mysterious dancer I met."

Sasuke hummed in response and nodded slightly. _Oh, _that _again. _Was that man really that interesting to Yukimura that he would let one little dance affect his state of mind for three days after?

Deciding not to assume too much out of the situation, Sasuke let Yukimura continue, "And why the prolonged interest?"

"To be honest, I really don't know," Yukimura laughed, scratching the back of his head as he sat staring at the ceiling in deep thought, "Before that night, I never sensed much of a fighting spirit from anyone I danced with. There were a few exceptions, of course, but they were nothing compared to that man. The passion in his movements and the fierce intimidation in the way he moved struck something in me. It was like he was calling me out in war."

Sasuke rolled his eyes at the poeticism in his friend's words, but listened to them nonetheless. It was true. Yukimura's drive for dancing had been caught in a sort of standstill before this unknown dancer swept him away that night. It was that dwindling fire that made Yukimura sneak out to the club a lot, as he must have spent that time trying to keep himself above the bar compared to the other regular dancers at the club. Sasuke noticed he snuck out more often and stayed out longer and longer, but even with all that effort Yukimura didn't seem like he had much fun at all. Despite that, the boy still refused to let his love for dancing die, but the fire within him had obviously dwindled over time.

No, it wasn't until he forced Yukimura home three days ago that he saw that old fire come back to his eyes again. That passion that made Yukimura the little tiger cub he was finally came back, but it wasn't thanks to a childhood friend who encouraged him daily. It was thanks to a mysterious man who, in the intoxicating atmosphere of the club, forced himself closer and closer to the young cub in an effort to woo a pretty little lady into his claws. Sasuke's face twitched uncomfortably as he remembered that feral look in the man's eye, like he was ready to-

"Sasuke?"

"Hm?" Green eyes met a pair of concerned brown ones. Sasuke easily put on a smile, "Called to war, I heard you. So you think he may be a key to you finding your dancing drive again?"

"Well, maybe," the brunette continued, seemingly convinced by the sly boy's fake smile, "I don't want to say he brought it back completely, as I know I still have a long way to go… But I do know I want to see this person again and challenge them more often. I feel they would make a very worthy opponent." And for the first time in a pretty long while, Yukimura's lips curved upward into a determined smile, one that had long since went into hiding since his Master's injury. Sasuke couldn't help but smile with him, and with a small inhale he stood up from the bench and turned to his best friend.

"Well, although I don't think it's a very good idea to be hanging around that guy very often, the least I can do for you is support you," Seeing the bright spark in Yukimura's eyes, Sasuke averted his own and set them on the clock over the main entrance to the boxing ring, "It's getting a little late, we should start heading home."

"Right! I've been here all day, so dinner sounds like a nice change of pace," Yukimura hummed with a goofy smile on his face, his hand on his stomach. Sasuke looked at him, an eyebrow rising as he thought over his words.

"You haven't eaten all day have you, Danna?"

The boy shook his head. Sasuke sighed, then waited as the brunette disappeared into the changing room to switch out of his sweaty clothes.

"We're back!" Sasuke called as he entered the apartment he shared with Yukimura and Master Shingen. He sidestepped away from the front door (making way for Yukimura barreling in) and took off his shoes, then casually made his way into the kitchen to find something for the three of them to eat. None of them were very good in the kitchen, but it turned into an unspoken rule to have Sasuke cook dinner, as he was the only one of the three who could at least use the kitchen without setting anything on fire. For breakfast and lunch, everyone fended for themselves (which resulted in takeout most of the time).

Just as Sasuke decided on what to cook, Yukimura finally made it past the genkan to greet the head of the house. "Oyakata-sama-!"

**WHAM!**

Sasuke sighed and winced a little as he heard Yukimura crashed to the ground with a loud thud. Even if this was a normal thing, he still couldn't fathom how the boy could stand the tough love Master Shingen showed him.

"Yukimura!" Shingen bellowed, his stern face not cracking a smile but to those who knew him showed he was rather content.

"Oyakata-sama!" The brunette sprung back up with a cheerful smile and a burning fire in his eyes, completely unscathed from the previous blow to the head. This piqued Shingen's interest, as he had not seen that spark in a very long time.

"It's been a long time since I've seen that spark in your eyes, boy," The renowned boxer mumbled as he and the boy in question walked to the living room to wait on dinner, "You've been acting strange since you came back from your last getaway… Did something happen?" He eyed the young cub suspiciously, his brows pinched in both concern and in intimidation.

This didn't faze Yukimura, however, as his smile grew much wider. He held up a fist and clenched it tightly, "My deepest apologies for having left while you were at rest, Oyakata-sama," he began in a boisterous voice, one he normally only used at home or in the presence of Shingen, "But on that night three days ago, I ran into someone who may potentially come to be my equal in dancing! No… He must already rival me, the passion in his movements shined so brightly - it reminded me of none other than that of what you taught me!" Yukimura looked at his hand which had unfurled as he continued talking.

He stared at his palm for a while, as it remembered the feel of the man's chest as he stood so close to him by the end of their battle. It rose and fell with heavy pants; the man desperately trying to catch his breath in the event of another round of dancing began. Yukimura blushed faintly as he remembered that low, husky voice in his ear, the music attempting to drown out any means of communication besides physical contact.

"_That was an incredible dance."_

"Yukimura?" Shingen called to the boy, who was caught staring at his hand with a rather dark blush spread across his face. The brunette snapped out of it and clapped his hands over his cheeks, trying to slap sense back into him. Shingen cocked an eyebrow and watched as the boy struggled to overcome embarrassment. He allowed himself to chuckle, which caused the boy even more discomfort, "From what you've told me, it sounds like you have found quite a formidable opponent…"

Yukimura watched his coach as he thought over what he heard, analyzing it piece by piece. It was intriguing, truthfully, seeing the person that inspired him most lost in thought like this. Was Yukimura's meeting really this intriguing to Master Shingen? If so, then why? Yukimura concluded he may not ever find out, as Master Shingen tended to keep such details to himself.

"Nevertheless!" Shingen continued, making Yukimura's back straighten, "I'm very happy for you."

Yukimura deadpanned at his coach, who simply smiled a big old toothy grin. His nose scrunched up as he smiled, something unique to Master Shingen that made his smiles all the more meaningful and rare to Yukimura. The boy did his best to hold back most of his overwhelming happiness, but it proved to be a bit too much as he shot up from the couch and shouted with an indebted smile, "Oyakata-sama!"

"Yukimura!"

"Oyakata-sama!"

"Yukimura!"

"Oya—"

"HEY!" Sasuke called from the kitchen window that saw into the living room. The duo turned to look at their third family member, not finding anything wrong with their bouts of shouting. Sasuke stared at them in silence for a minute, then just as he was about to open his mouth to announce dinner to be ready Yukimura's cellphone rang from the bag he left by the coffee table. Yukimura dove for the phone, knowing that people normally don't call him unless it was something really important (otherwise they would text).

"Hello?"

"Yukimura!" a rather irritated voice called from the other end. Yukimura blinked in puzzlement.

"Ieyasu-dono? What's the matter?"

"There's not much time to explain, just get yourself together and meet me at the usual spot," Ieyasu demanded. Other voices could be heard in the background, some shouting and some trying to mediate – or taunt, Yukimura couldn't tell which.

"Alright, I'll be there soon." With a small nod, he hung up and clenched his phone tightly as he ran up the stairs to his room, "Sorry, Sasuke, but I'm gonna hold off on dinner!" he called before shutting the door to change. Sasuke stared at the doorway, mouth agape and head tilted in confusion. He then looked at Shingen, who only seemed mildly concerned.

"Might as well pack his dinner up and leave it in the fridge for him," The older man sighed and got up to join Sasuke at the dining table just outside of the kitchen. Sasuke frowned.

"You're not worried?"

Shingen scoffed, "I needn't worry about Yukimura. I'm not sure what changed him in the past few days, but I know he'll be able to fend for himself a little more from now on."

Despite the bubbling need to protest, Sasuke kept his mouth shut and clapped his hands together, "Itadakimasu."

Yukimura hurried to club, impatient to help his friend. He couldn't stay still on the train and ended up bothering a few citizens on the train, but he only apologized half-heartedly. Now that he was walking into the club, the feelings he'd felt for the past few days suddenly rushed back and overpowered his curiosity for Ieyasu. Yukimura felt as if he were dancing with that man once again. Though he wanted to relish in the overwhelming feeling, Yukimura shook his head clear once he caught sight of his friend clad in a golden colored hoodie and baggy jeans. With a little bit of an aggressive effort, he pushed through the thick crowd to meet up with him.

A white head in the crowd caught Yukimura's attention, stopping him on his way to Ieyasu once again. He looked at the boy that belonged to the wild head of white hair and couldn't help but feel just a bit nostalgic for some reason. He felt as if he knew the boy, but he couldn't place where he saw him before. Instead of dwelling on it, Yukimura focused his attention on Ieyasu.

"Ieyasu-dono, you called me here?" Yukimura asked putting an arm on the man's shoulder. Ieyasu turned to Yukimura with a troubled expression, but his face lightened when he saw the brunette.

"Yukimura! I'm so glad you're here! I need your help. My dear friend Motochika seems to be in a misunderstanding. I tried to talk peacefully with him and reason with him, but he seems pretty set on going against me here. Would you mind lending me hand?" Ieyasu asked with pleading eyes.

"Well, well, well, if I didn't just hear something interesting," came a low voice. Yukimura looked to see the familiar looking white haired boy from before walk towards them. He was accompanied by a much smaller white haired teen that looked absolutely irritated to be there. "If you still think that we're friends after what you put me through, then you're crazy!" The one-eyed teen pointed at Ieyasu, who was taken aback by such bold words.

"M-Motochika, can't you calm down? I know that we're still friends. Please, if we could just resolve this with the power of our bonds rather than fighting it-"

"Bonds, huh? That's a funny word coming from you. You got me kicked out of me house!" Motochika growled.

"Just give it up, Ieyasu. No one is falling for your 'talk of peace' act anymore," the smaller boy said in a detached tone. Though he sounded bored, Yukimura could feel, and even see, the anger radiating from him. Ieyasu feigned defeat, but his eyes proved otherwise.

"My talk of peace is no act, Mitsunari. You should know that better than anyone, but I guess if there's no other way, then we can go about this like you wanted. That is why Yukimura is here after all. I just hope you realize we won't back down. I'm not one to take to losing too kindly. Ready, Yukimura?" Ieyasu asked as he turned to look over his shoulder at his friend, who obviously wore his confusion on his face.

"What is this all about, Ieyasu-dono?" Yukimura asked. His brows furrowed as he felt uncomfortable for jumping into the middle of what looked like something rather personal.

"That bastard got me kicked out of my house! He says we're friends, but I can't forgive him for something like that! It's time to quit stalling. If you're a man, Ieyasu, let's battle it out, right now!" Motochika glared at Ieyasu as a fast song with a heavy beat started playing. Ieyasu and Motochika stared at each other before Motochika gave a sly smirk. "If you're not going to make the first move, then we will."

Motochika gave a curt nod to Mitsunari next to him, and then slowly they began jumping in place, assessing the beat of the music. Yukimura immediately noticed that they were jumpstylists, as the way they hopped in sync to the heavy bass while flipping and kicking their legs in well-trained patterns made it obvious. It angered Yukimura that the two danced so close to Ieyasu and himself, almost kicking them with their sporadic leg movements and threatening stunts. Ieyasu looked saddened by their actions, but Yukimura only grew more determined to help Ieyasu win.

As the two white haired teens backed away slightly, Yukimura grabbed Ieyasu's arm to pull him from his distracting thoughts. He gave him a comforting smile before they nodded at each other and began dancing as well, almost instantaneously breaking into a Melbourne Shuffle. Motochika and Mitsunari stopped dancing and back up a little more in order to watch Yukimura and Ieyasu shuffle and glide across the floor. The two carried themselves in a very confident manner, gaining attention from the crowd around them. Yukimura grinned in satisfaction, letting the beat carry his body across the floor in movements so smooth, it was almost as if he were skating. Once the beat slowed down, Ieyasu and Yukimura slowed their dancing and backed up, allowing round two to begin.

Motochika and Mitsunari jumped and spun around as the beat picked up, getting closer and closer to Ieyasu and Yukimura. At one point, Motochika had actually accomplished kicking Ieyasu in the shin, though it was a discreet move to the crowd around them. Ieyasu grimaced but said nothing to his opponent. Yukimura was about to take action when he was kicked in the back of his leg by Mitsunari, which also went unnoticed to the roaring audience. He turned to glare at Mitsunari and was met with equally cold eyes. Soon, Mitsunari and Motochika regrouped for Yukimura and Ieyasu's turn, a deadly tension rising as they seemed to look down on their opponents.

Yukimura and Ieyasu began shuffling again, this time creatively gliding across the floor in elaborate patterns that, to the trained eye, proved to be very challenging feats. Then, in an unspoken agreement, the two began shuffling to their opponents, spitting back as much intimidation and threatening fire as they did prior. The two white haired teens were startled, but stood their ground as they grew closer. Yukimura then looked up from the ground at Mitsunari's face and stuck out his tongue at him, his eyes fixated on the white haired man's in a menacing showdown. He smirked at Mitsunari's appalled face and began shuffling so that his feet would force Mitsunari to stagger backward a little. Mitsunari gave an impatient growl while Yukimura laughed and pulled away smoothly as he and Ieyasu finished their turn.

Motochika grabbed Mitsunari in a fit of rage, and the two began jumping around again for round three. They faced each other, performing a sort of choreographed flurry of kicks and punches that allured the crowd surrounding them. Yukimura knew then that they were gearing up for their big final move. Mitsunari jumped up high and landed in Motochika's cupped hand. With a little amount of force, Motochika lifted his hand as Mitsunari jumped and performed a perfect backflip, earning a large amount of applause from the crowd. Motochika gave a sly grin to Ieyasu as they stopped, waiting for their final retaliation.

Yukimura gave a confident nod to Ieyasu and they made the dance floor theirs again. Ieyasu glided in a small circle gaining momentum for what Yukimura knew was coming. Ieyasu threw himself to the ground in a coin drop and Yukimura quickly glided around him, speeding up and slowing down to the articulate beat of the music. Ieyasu eased himself from the coin drop into a flare, allowing his legs to fly around him in a circle. Yukimura's feet moved in patterns on the ground while his legs seemed to create the illusion of moving faster than he was. His feet illustrated the main beat of the final seconds of the song while his legs seemed to ride on the off beats that followed. The two continued this wild display until Ieyasu pushed himself up and ended back to back with Yukimura, both allowing a cocky smirk to grace their faces. They stopped just as the song ended and the crowd erupted in cheers and veneration. Yukimura smiled widely and turned to shake Ieyasu by his shoulders.

"We did it, Ieyasu-dono! We won!" Yukimura cheered, though his reddened cheeks and heavy panting were proving it to be difficult to cheer for long. The brunette hadn't thought about it, but as the adrenaline rush died down, he felt a pounding headache disturb his jubilations. Ieyasu gave a small smile, then glanced towards Motochika who looked livid. He approached Ieyasu and grabbed a fistful of his hoodie.

"Ieyasu! You weren't supposed to win!" Motochika growled over the loud crowd, which after seeing how angry he was quickly hushed and back away in the event of a fight happening. Ieyasu gave Motochika a determined stare.

"I warned you that I wouldn't go easy on you. Now if you'd let me go, hopefully you could try listening to me this time," Ieyasu said.

"As if I'd ever listen to you!" Motochika shouted pulling his arm back. Pushing his personal pain aside, Yukimura quickly ran and slipped between them, grabbing Motochika's arm.

"Please wait, Motochika-dono! While I may not completely understand the situation here, I think you should listen to what Ieyasu-dono has to say. He is a kind person, and he will not lie to you. You must know that if you two were indeed friends!" Yukimura said struggling against Motochika. Motochika glanced at Yukimura before sighing and shoving Ieyasu away from him.

"Fine. I'll at least listen to you, but if I was right about Ieyasu, I'm not stopping for anything. Let's talk outside," Motochika said, heading to the balcony at the left of the room. Ieyasu quickly gathered him composure and followed Motochika outside. Yukimura stood with Mitsunari in the room, watching Ieyasu and Motochika talk outside. Yukimura chanced a shy glance at Mitsunari and averted his eyes under his cold gaze.

"Um, that was some great dancing you and Motochika-dono did, Mitsunari-dono," Yukimura said to quell the awkward silence. Mitsunari glanced boredly at Yukimura before looking back to Ieyasu and Motochika.

"What do I care of what you think? Besides, you and that bastard won, so it makes no difference how well I danced," Mitsunari stated in a flat tone. Yukimura pouted a little. That wasn't a very positive way of looking at things…

"Well, I suppose, but you still-"

"Look, if you have nothing useful to say then just shut up. I have no interest in listening to your babbling," Mitsunari declared while walking towards Motochika and Ieyasu who had just re-entered the room. Yukimura continued on as well, standing by Ieyasu's side. Motochika seemed to be in thought while Ieyasu seemed relieved.

"I knew the bastard didn't like me, but to go as far as that… I'm sorry for causing you trouble, Ieyasu. I swear the next time I see that god damn rat I'm gonna-"

"Easy now, Motochika. While I agree that Mori Motonari overstepped his boundaries here, there's no need for violence," Ieyasu said cutting off Motochika in his threat.

"But this war between Mori and I has been going on longer than this. I swear I'm gonna make that bastard pay somehow," Motochika growled, clenching his fists by his sides.

"And when that day comes, I will support you in any way I can. Meanwhile, why don't we all go out to celebrate? I'd say that avoiding this crisis is a cause for celebration," Ieyasu offered. Motochika mused over the idea.

"That would be fine with me, but where would we go?" Motochika asked. As the two men discussed the plans for the evening, Yukimura held his head and muttered a faint curse under his breath. The headache still didn't pass and by now he was sure he could hear his stomach growling in his head.

"Could we possibly go out to dinner? The truth is I haven't eaten all day," Yukimura admitted sheepishly, a blush decorating his face.

Soon enough, the four teens were at a ramen shop waiting for their orders to be fulfilled. Yukimura had ended up sitting between Motochika and Ieyasu while Mitsunari sat on the other side of Ieyasu. Motochika turned to Yukimura with a large grin.

"I don't think I ever really introduced myself to you. I'm Motochika Chosokabe. It's a pleasure to meet'cha," Motochika said.

"Ah, you're right. I'm Sanada Genjiro Yukimura, loyal student of ex-boxer Takeda Shingen! It's a pleasure to meet you," Yukimura announced loudly and proudly. Motochika gave a laugh at Yukimura's fervor in his introduction.

"You really are a little spitfire aren't you? You remind me of someone I met the other night, but I'm not sure who," Motochika trailed off in thought, letting his eyes stare into space as he did so.

"Motochika-dono, you look quite familiar as well. Have we possibly met before?" Yukimura asked. Motochika gave a thoughtful hum.

"It's definitely possible… If you dance that well, then I'm sure that wasn't your first time to that club. Maybe we've only seen each other there?" Motochika guessed, shrugging his shoulders.

"Maybe, that is likely," Yukimura agreed dully, lost in his thoughts still. He couldn't quite put his finger on it, but not only did Motochika look familiar, he sounded rather familiar too; especially when he was yelling in the club earlier that night. Yukimura drummed a finger on his cheek as he thought, though said thoughts were soon overshadowed by his obnoxious hunger clawing at his stomach.

"Well, let's not worry too much about it. We may have met before, but we're friends now. That's what really matters. Though I'm impressed with your skills, I have to say that it didn't seem like that was the best you've got to offer," Motochika said as everyone's ramen appeared. Everyone grabbed their chopsticks, gave an "Itadakimasu," and then started eating. Ieyasu, who had heard Motochika's comment, put his bowl down after the first slurp.

"That reminds me, Yukimura, are you alright? You seemed a bit out of it tonight and also easily angered," Ieyasu said, his concern showing. Yukimura quickly slurped the rest of his noodles and smiled at Ieyasu.

"I'm fine! The anger was partly due to the fact that I hadn't eaten all day," Yukimura said.

"Why hadn't you eaten today? Has something been troubling you?" Ieyasu asked.

"Oh, no, not at all! I've just been lost in thought for the past few days. You see, the other night I met a man who had danced with me, and he danced with such passion that it stirred up something inside of me as well. I've been itching to dance with him again in order to feel that passion once more, so since then I've been training really hard to get back into the swing of things. Lately I've been slacking, but this man seemed to bring me back to reality," Yukimura said, allowing himself an embarrassed laugh at admitting he let himself become rusty in his dancing. Motochika observed Yukimura closely, almost able to pinpoint exactly where he's seen him before, but then soon gave up in his thoughts and returned to eating his ramen.

"I take it this man was a great dancer then?" Ieyasu asked.

"Yes, if the two of us were to have a dance battle much like tonight's, I'm not sure who the victor would be," Yukimura said, his admiration lacing his words.

"Well, I wish you luck, Yukimura. Hopefully you can meet this man again and dance until a winner is determined," Ieyasu smiled at the beaming brunette before continuing to eat. Yukimura nodded slightly.

"Thank you, Ieyasu-dono," Yukimura said before quickly finishing his ramen. He paid for his meal separately before turning to the others. "Please enjoy your meal! I've got to go back home. I'm sure Sasuke and Oyakata-sama are waiting for my return. I'll see you next time!" With that, the boy quickly ran out of the ramen shop. Ieyasu's words had filled Yukimura with some sort of hopeful knowledge that he would indeed meet the man that had plagued his thoughts for days now. Not only would they meet, but they would also dance together again and feel the same passion as they had that night. The hope alone sent shivers of anticipation running down his spine as he hurried to catch the train home, and throughout the entire ride, Yukimura's smile remained settled upon his lips.

Motochika slammed the door to the apartment shut as he returned. He found Masamune lounging on the couch and dropped a shopping bag on his stomach. Masamune sat up in surprise and grabbed the bag before it dropped. "There's your milk you wanted," Motochika announced sitting next to Masamune, his face showing nothing but indifference. He didn't just spend hours to fetch some milk, what are you _talking_ about? Masamune glared daggers at the man beside him.

"You asshole! Did you have to drop it on my stomach?! What even took you so long by the way?" Masamune asked, slamming the milk container on the coffee table in front of them.

"Oh I went to the club to deal with Ieyasu. Turns out he wasn't the one to kick me out. It was Mori, that bastard," Motochika growled. Masamune glanced at Motochika confused.

"You went to the club? Why would you do that?" Masamune asked.

"To have a dance battle with Ieyasu. I knew I could beat him since I had brought Mitsunari, but he brought some little guy with a lot of bounce in his step. He was quite the great dancer. With that little guy, Ieyasu beat me. I was about to punch him, but the little guy stopped me. He talked me into listening to Ieyasu's side of the story and that's when things were settled," Motochika explained, feigning any interest while flipping through the channels on the TV.

"I was watching that, but I guess I'll let it slide since you got your friend back tonight. Who was that great dancer you were talking about? Was he someone we should look out for at the club sometime?" Masamune asked.

"Totally. He glided like it was nothing! It didn't even look like he was touching the ground!" Motochika said, a smirk visible as he recalled the brunette's impressive dancing.

"So you got his number right? You can ask him to come to the club when we want?" Masamune asked hopefully. Motochika froze and didn't look Masamune in the eye, the smirk now looking more like a hollowed out attempt at a poker face. Masamune glared at Motochika. "You mean you didn't get his number? What the hell have you been doing all night?!"

"S-So it slipped my mind. We can still ask Ieyasu when he's going to the club, so calm down!" Motochika cried desperately. Masamune groaned and crossed his arms over his chest.

"Fine. I guess it's okay so long as I have a chance to meet him. I'm going to bed. I'm exhausted after staying up all night waiting for you," Masamune said standing up. He grabbed the milk and put it in the fridge before going upstairs towards his room. "Thanks for getting the milk by the way." Motochika gave a smile to Masamune and Masamune continued on to his room to get ready for bed.


	3. Empowered and Aroused

**A/N: Thanks a bunch to the following people who reviewed: SpeedDemon01, xiaotakara, PastaLuver13561**

Any and all reviews are greatly appreciated! In this chapter, the song** "Ode to Bouncer" by Studio Killers (Manhattan Clique Mix)** will be featured. Bambi and I would like to reiterate that we do NOT own the characters or the song, and again there will be a note as to when you should play the song. It's not entirely needed, but it helps set the scene.

* * *

**Chapter 3: Empowered and Aroused**

* * *

Masamune sat on his couch, idly twiddling his thumbs in order to be doing _something_. He knew he couldn't do much since Kojuro had just started cooking dinner. Unable to sit still any longer, Masamune turned to face Kojuro in his chair. "Hey, Kojuro, what exactly are you-"

He never got to finish his sentence though as he saw a small bright orange projectile flying towards him. As he ran purely on instincts he ducked below the back of the couch then turned to glare at the stairs, finding a smirking Motochika standing there confidently.

"So you dodged it this time? Glad to see you're getting more aware," Motochika challenged, preparing his nerf gun for another shot.

"You're the one who always lost anyways. Get ready to lose again!" Masamune shouted. He pushed off from the couch jumping to crouch beside it as Motochika fired another shot narrowly missing Masamune in his escape. Masamune pulled up from the side holding the t.v. remote. "_Let's go! _Wait, wait this isn't right." Masamune crouched again then appeared holding up a blue shoe. "Ha ha! Wait, still not right." He threw the shoe into some new hiding place for it and crouched again, earning an impatient sigh from Motochika.

"Have you lost your gun again, Date?" Motochika asked lazily. Masamune pulled his head up to glare at Motochika, still without a gun.

"It's not lost! I have one eye! Cut a guy some slack!" Masamune cried before looking for his missing gun once again. Motochika almost lost his footing on his step and gave a loud noise of exasperation.

"What?! You've only got one eye? That's the lamest excuse I've ever heard! I only have one eye too, dumbass!" Motochika shouted loading another round.

"I know that! You should know how hard it is to look under this couch with one eye," Masamune grumbled going down further to continue his search. Kojuro sighed from the kitchen.

"If you had bothered to keep this place clean in the first place, it wouldn't be hard to find anything, Masamune-sama," Kojuro scolded.

"Shut up, Kojuro! Aha, Found it! Alright, let's go, Motochika!" Masamune shouted standing from the protection of the couch and firing off multiple shots to Motochika. Motochika let out a curse before quickly bounding his way down the rest of the steps, rolling on the floor to stop on one foot and his knee aiming his gun towards Masamune. Masamune ran out of shots and started running deeper into the living room. Motochika gave a small shout as he shot at Masamune's retreating form.

"Running away already? I thought you'd put up a bit more of a challenge," Motochika teased though all of his shots were missing. Masamune gave a smirk before diving behind the armchair across the room. He fumbled around for a bit before surfacing again with a newly prepared round.

"As if! I've learned to hide ammo everywhere in this apartment! Say you're prayers, bastard!" Masamune laughed as he shot at Motochika. Motochika quickly sprinted around the open space around him leading him to run into the kitchen. Masamune continued to shoot even as Motochika hid behind Kojuro. A single nerf bullet hit Kojuro's cheek and fell into the rice he was cooking. Masamune froze as Kojuro stiffened in anger.

"Masamune-sama, if you wish to have a properly cooked dinner tonight, then I suggest you and Motochika-san find another way to relieve yourself of your boredom," Kojuro snapped quickly. Masamune nodded and threw his gun onto the couch.

"I guess this means there's only one thing we can do now, huh, Motochika?" Masamune asked grinning idiotically at his friend. Motochika returned Masamune's gaze with an equally foolish smile. "To the table!" They both dashed for the kitchen table, a glass table with a very smooth, clean surface. Motochika sat on one side while Masamune sat on the other. They grinned at each other before nodding in agreement.

Masamune grabbed a remote and pressed play. A nearby radio by the staircase started playing a song with a heavy string of dubstep. The duo started connecting their arms in sync with the bass, moving them and rearranging them in a freestyled routine of tutting. The two worked their way around the table until they were side by side. It was then that the true battle started. Grinning wickedly at their respective reflections, the two began connecting their moves together in an unspoken alliance, yet they tried to push each other as far away as possible at the same time. They both continued to move in a creative manner that continued connecting and reassembling movements, pushing and pulling each other while keeping up with the beat of the song. They both worked hard in order to stay on top of the table in their battle for dominance, for whoever was checkmated under the table would be dubbed the loser. The two were only interrupted when a pot of rice was placed on the table, breaking their concentration. The two looked up to see Kojuro glaring at them.

"I had just cleaned the table before cooking. I guess I know what two particularly bored teens will be doing after eating," Kojuro said. Masamune let out an uneasy chuckle.

"You can't be serious, right?" Masamune asked standing to sit properly in his chair.

"I am not one to joke around, Masamune-sama," Kojuro said before turning back to the kitchen to continue setting the table. Masamune groaned and planted his forehead on the glass with a soft _thud_. "That might not be wise, sir. It'll just be more for you two to clean tonight. And Motochika-san, try not to eat too messily tonight." Kojuro turned with a bright smile carrying plates of sashimi for the three to eat.

* * *

"There, it's clean," Masamune sighed, throwing his wet towel on the glass surface. Kojuro grabbed the towel from the table and from Motochika and smiled.

"Excellent. Thank you, Masamune-sama. Now you two are free to do as you wish. I must advise you to choose what you do carefully though, so you don't have to face consequences such as this again," Kojuro said returning to the kitchen to finish cleaning up dinner. Masamune disregarded Kojuro's statement and plopped down on the couch.

"So what do we do now?" Masamune inquired, boredom already overtaking his features. Motochika sat next to him, a hand on his chin in thought.

"I don't know, maybe we should-" Motochika paused at the loud sound of ONE OK ROCK's song _No Scared_ blaring from his pocket. He pulled out his cellphone to see a text message waiting for him. He smiled when he saw it was from Ieyasu. The message read: _come to the club now and bring Masamune. yukimura is with me. _Motochika closed his phone with a sly smirk. "Let's head down to the club. I think we might meet someone interesting there."

"Someone to battle with? Sounds interesting. Let's go!" Masamune said suddenly hopping from the couch. Motochika eagerly followed behind as they left the apartment.

Not long after, the two teens found themselves in the dark club room surrounded by other dancers. "So is this interesting someone already here or do we have to wait a while like last time?"

"They're already here. See that crowd?" Motochika asked gesturing to a large crowd gathering in the center of the room. There were loud cheers and some "oooohhh!"s to show something amazing had just happened. The crowd was too thick to see through, but Masamune was already grinning madly to himself thinking about the kind of person that could be in that battle. Motochika smirked, "I betcha that's where the magic is happening."

"Alright, this is gonna be one hell of a _party_. I can just tell. Let's go, Motochika. You're backing me up if I need it," Masamune ordered, pushing his way through the crowd as a large eruption of cheering took place. A winner was just found, and Masamune couldn't wait to see who it was. The song had ended by the time Masamune had found himself in the middle of the crowd. He stopped in place as he took in the person in front of him.

A small boy around his age stood before him, a perplexed look on his face. He had brown hair that was pulled messily into a ponytail, his bangs falling freely in his face. A black tank top covered his chest and was met at his waist by a red headband tied around him. Just below the headband, a red plaid jacket was tied around his waist above his low sagging red pants. Masamune simply narrowed his eye at boy before him.

"Were you the one who just won the last dance battle?" Masamune asked clearly not amused. The boy faltered a bit and didn't answer. Instead he averted his eyes to the ground which only served to anger Masamune. "I asked you a question, but I guess if you're this nervous you couldn't have possibly won." At that the boy looked at Masamune again, his mouth open but no sound came out. He closed it allowing a small flush to cross his face.

"How on Earth did you make it through that crowd that fast?" Motochika asked stumbling beside Masamune. When Masamune didn't say anything, Motochika turned his attention to the boy under Masamune's gaze. "Oh, there you are, Yukimura. You won the last battle didn't you?" Yukimura's face took on that of surprise before he nodded sheepishly. Something clicked in Motochika's head just then as he gave out a loud shout and pointed at Yukimura, "OH! YOU'RE THE GUY THAT DANCED WITH DATE THE OTHER NIGHT!"

"What? Motochika, what are you talking about? I danced with a girl," Masamune said turning his gaze to his friend. Said friend laughed and shook his head.

"No no, my friend. That 'girl' you danced with is that kid there, Sanada Yukimura," Motochika announced once again. With a large grin Motochika strode confidently to Yukimura and put an arm around the red faced boy. He shook him around a bit before showing him off to Masamune. "Look, he's got the ponytail like 'she' did, and even the same eye and hair color. Plus, he's got the rokumonsen necklace to boot. This is your 'girl,' Date." Yukimura's face reddened even more while Masamune's face reddened considerably as well. Some of the people in the crowd listening started to laugh and talk amongst themselves, which resulted in even redder faces.

"You were a guy the whole time?! Why the hell didn't you say anything?!" Masamune shouted. Yukimura flailed his arms about desperately.

"I didn't mean to keep it from you! I-I was just dancing!" Yukimura cried.

"Did you think you'd make a fool of me?! I'm not an idiot you know!" Masamune growled.

"I didn't say that you were an idiot! I didn't mean anything by it!" Yukimura denied.

"Yeah right!" Masamune barked out. He glared at Yukimura, who stiffened under his cold gaze. "I'll believe that in a thousand years when I'm dead. Now, I'm gonna get even. Why don't I just dance battle against you and beat you? I'll own you so badly that you'll look like the biggest fool here. Motochika, get over here and we'll show him a thing or two about real dancing." Motochika removed his arm from Yukimura's shoulder and gave Yukimura a small shrug.

"Sorry, Sanada. I'm helping out Masamune tonight, so it looks like I've gotta dance against you again. You've got Ieyasu here though. I'm sure he can help you out," Motochika said returning to Masamune's side. Masamune narrowed his eye at Motochika.

"Wait, Ieyasu? So Ieyasu knew about this too?" Masamune asked. Motochika smacked the back of his head.

"Of course he didn't, idiot. If I didn't know then Ieyasu didn't know," Motochika said glancing over at Yukimura. He seemed to be in a slight panic, but was a bit more relaxed when Ieyasu appeared at his side. Motochika couldn't help but feel a bit bad for Yukimura, but he could understand Masamune's sentiments.

"Look, Motochika, just dance your best. I know you may have made friends with this kid, but I want to teach him a lesson," Masamune muttered, catching Motochika's attention. Motochika turned to see the intense look on Masamune's face and found he couldn't argue with the teen at all. This was what he needed to do, so he had no other choice in his mind but to help him.

_**[Cue: Studio Killers – Ode to Bouncer, Manhattan Clique Remix]**_

Soon, the current song was ending and Yukimura and Ieyasu turned to look at Masamune and Motochika with great confidence. Masamune gave a small laugh at their courage before standing more proudly. A new song started to play, a remix of an English song that had gained some popularity since its release, and Masamune gestured out to the pair allowing them the first move. Yukimura and Ieyasu nodded to each other before assessing the beat of the song. Before long, they held a pretty consistent routine of movements that told a story with the song, gliding across the dance floor with precise steps and fluid control. Yukimura wasn't in a very convincing state of mind to dance, but he tried his best to keep his steps in sync with the song as he shuffled across the floor, his eyes downcast. While he was preoccupied with that, Ieyasu did his best to keep up with Yukimura's pace, mirroring his movements while spicing it up with his own rather crowd-pleasing style. Masamune was careful to watch only Ieyasu, knowing he would be swept up in Yukimura's flawless movements, were he to pay attention to the boy. Occasionally, he would sneak a glance at the brunette and watch how focused and determined he looked as he danced. He frowned a bit though, because he noticed that the boy's eyes were averted, watching his own footsteps and hiding his face just like he did that night…

Soon the two slowed their movements to a stop allowing Masamune and Motochika a turn. Motochika could see a hint of hurt in Yukimura's eyes, but he could just as easily see how fast he hid it with determination… Or was it just the urge to get this dance over with?

"Oi, get your head out of the clouds!" Masamune barked, clapping a hand on his friend's shoulder just as the beat started to speed up again. With just one look, Motochika could tell he was beyond pissed off, as if the flames in his eye made it visible and spiraled around his body like a seething dragon coiling around itself. It definitely wasn't worth trying to calm him down, so as he got himself comfortable with the beat of the song, the white haired teen bent and twisted his arms in intricate patterns in front of him. Masamune mimicked his complex designs and threw in some of his own, poplocking and contorting the song into a visual display of fierce geometric shapes.

Masamune focused his attention on Ieyasu as best he could. He couldn't afford to lose this, his pride was on the line and he damned sure wasn't going to lose to some little trap dancing with his hooded friend. As the events of that night replayed in his mind, Masamune couldn't help but let out a low growl and glared in Yukimura's direction as he started losing control of his senses. Yukimura stared back at him with something that resembled fear in his eyes… No, it wasn't fear - it was awe, admiration maybe?

That tossed Masamune over the edge, and as he felt his pulse in his head sync with that of the beat of the song, he switched up his dance style and his feet started moving much faster and more experienced than he let on in the past. Motochika even stepped back and stared at his partner-in-crime with nothing but shock written on his face.

"D-Date, what the hell?!" Motochika called over the music. Yukimura's mouth fell open slightly in shock as well as Masamune broke into an extraordinary display of freestepping, a style he had also been practicing with Sasuke.

Masamune glanced up and smirked at Yukimura's dumbfounded expression. He saw his hands twitching and could have sworn the boy was bouncing in place, as if restraining himself from dancing with him. He couldn't help but laugh.

"You look a little scared over there!" he called to Yukimura, who tensed up at the taunt. The brunette frowned and glared at the man before him with a rekindled… hatred? No, something else...

Masamune didn't have any time to think on it however as Yukimura forced himself into the center of the dance floor with a raging aura surrounding him. It caused the crowd that gathered to back away and silence themselves, awaiting this dance battle that was getting more interesting by the minute. With reinvigorated energy, Yukimura's feet went from moving steadily to the main beat of the song to riding the current of hidden beats created by the melding of the electronic sounds; weaving and interlocking, gliding across the floor, and spinning taunting circles around Masamune.

To the one-eyed man's surprise, Yukimura's eyes weren't glued to the floor the entire time as they were before. In fact, they seemed to be locked on his at certain points of his dancing, piercing his one steel gray eye with his passionate red-brown ones. Masamune couldn't help but let his smirk grow as he watched the boy dance, remembering exactly why he was so interested in him in the first place. The interest only grew as he watched Yukimura dance in ways he had never seen him dance before. He had only ever seen him shuffle. Sharing his interest was Ieyasu, who stood next to Motochika and watched their two partners go at it as if the world around them didn't exist.

"I've never seen Yukimura c-walk like this before!" Ieyasu admired, crossing his arms over his chest and laughing.

"The kid better be careful, Masamune's lookin' pretty fired up over there. If he keeps this up, I don't think the club will be able to withstand such a close standing battle." Motochika chuckled in response as his hands found their place in his pockets. Ieyasu nodded and watched as Masamune took the last minute of the song as the final round of their dancing. His steps zigzagged and crossed over each other in quick succession, riding out the last of the fast beats before he slowed to a basic step. As his speed receded, he retreated back to his tutting style. His arms moved swiftly to the last few beats of the song as he stepped forward to Yukimura, who stood tall and proud while he panted a little. As the song died down, Masamune trailed his hand up to the rokumonsen necklace around Yukimura's neck and pulled it. The gesture caused the brunette to tense up a little but otherwise he held his ground, his eyes never leaving Masamune's.

"Heh, your eyes look a lot livelier than I remembered, _Red," _Masamune commented, tilting his head slightly as he looked at the boy. He hadn't thought about it, but this was his first time really looking at him up close; their last encounter having been clouded by dancing and intoxicating music to really pay attention to appearances. He hated to admit it, but this spunky brunette really wasn't half bad looking…

Masamune frowned. '_What am I thinking?'_

"Sanada Yukimura," a voice called him back to attention as a hand grabbed his wrist with surprising strength.

Masamune raised an eyebrow, "_What was that?_"

"My name," Yukimura said, forcing Masamune's hand away from his necklace. As he adjusted it, he reintroduced himself, "Sanada Genjiro Yukimura. Pleased to make your…acquaintance." He said with obvious hesitance in the word. Masamune chuckled for what seemed like a long minute before he looked his new acquaintance in the eye.

"I see… Name's Date Masamune," he returned the gesture with his signature smirk, not missing the slightest change in Yukimura's eyes as he did this, "You're a pretty good dancer, but there's no way I'm gonna lose to you. 'Specially not after you set me up like that the first time we met." He hissed a little with obvious scorn.

Yukimura growled in response, "You are the one who made such bold assumptions! Besides, I—" Before he could say anymore, Ieyasu grabbed his shoulder and pulled him back. Yukimura hadn't realized it, but he and Masamune had been standing pretty close to each other as they argued. '_Things really must have gotten intense. I didn't even notice.'_

"Yukimura, calm down, now's not the time to begin arguing," Ieyasu chided. Yukimura looked at him with a firm expression, but calmed slightly when he turned to Masamune. The one-eyed man didn't seem to mind the interruption.

"He's right, because the_ party's _not over yet, Sanada Yukimura." Masamune smirked and looked at Motochika, nodding him over. The white haired teen complied quickly, "Keep this kitten company, I'm making a phone call." Masamune waved a short goodbye before heading to the balcony.

* * *

"K-Kitten?! Who is he to mock me like that?" Yukimura hissed and made a move to follow his newfound rival, but Motochika stood in his way.

"Relax, Yukimura," he said, laughing slightly at how fired up he was even after such a hard battle, "You'll have your chance at getting back at him. I think he'll be calling in for a rematch fairly soon."

"A rematch?" The brunette contemplated the thought, a little unsure of how to feel about it. To be honest, he was already nervous about confronting the man he met before on that eventful night, and he was already embarrassed by the turn of events it caused. Was he really willing to face him again after this?

"If you're not feeling up to it, Yukimura, we can head home. It's getting late as it is already, and I may have to leave soon anyway." Ieyasu said to comfort his friend, but was surprised when he was met with a laugh.

"There's no way I'm backing down from a challenge, Ieyasu-dono," Yukimura said as he reached for his cellphone from his pocket, "If he's calling in back-up for a rematch, then I suppose I shall do the same."

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**A/N: **Another quick note, new character designs and scenes will be posted as soon as possible. School will be coming up in two weeks, so updates will be a little few and far between, but we'll try our best to keep up with it!


	4. Loves to Bonds, Friends to

**(A/N:) **Thanks a bunch for all the wonderful reviews guys! Bambi and I really appreciate them, and they definitely help us to keep this story going. I really apologize this chapter is so late. School started for us on the 4th, and since then we've been swamped with a lot of work. Nevertheless, we did our best to make sure this chapter would be really enjoyable for you guys!

I wanna make a note that I'm still adding more and more goodies to the blog (cashewsand-basara at tumblr) and I recently added a scene and a few references! Be sure to check them out. Soon I'll be posting videos to the blog that show the different styles of dancing everyone does, as well as make playlists featuring songs Bambi and I think would suit each character in this time period. :)

Speaking of songs, this chapter features a dubstep song called** Bonfire, by Knife Party**. I realize not everyone may like the music used in this story, but to those that still read it despite that, you all are really amazing people. Hope you all enjoy the story, and again, thanks for all the wonderful reviews!

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**Chapter Four: Lovers are to Bonds as Friends are to...**

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There were quite a few things Sasuke wasn't good at. Some of these things he just couldn't control, while others were because of his go-with-the-flow kind of attitude. One of these things was his horrible sense of direction. Unless he had been to a certain destination once before and explored it thoroughly enough, he would never know how to get there. He got lost so often that he wound up blaming his go-with-the-flow attitude on it. Why bother fighting a bad sense of direction and getting frustrated when you can just suck it up and go exploring?

He sighed and looked at the time on his phone. As he did so, the train finally came roaring to the station. Once the doors opened, people came pouring out and dispersing in all directions while others were shoving themselves onto the train all the same. Sasuke managed to slip in just before the doors closed and he stood patiently as the train lurched forward on its run. He missed the stop he was supposed to get off of to meet Yukimura at the club, so he knew he would get there later than the poor guy asked him to. Sasuke frowned. It sounded like it was pretty important too.

That was another thing Sasuke was horrible at; saying no to Yukimura. He scratched the side of his cheek as he recalled the young brunette's loud voice over the phone.

"_Sasuke!" he had said, "Please, I need your assistance here at the club! I've run into my rival here and we tied during a battle. I thought he would have let it go, but it seems he's calling for help for a rematch. Ieyasu-dono has to leave soon, so you're the only one I can rely on. Please?"_

Upon recalling his friend's irresistible pleas for help, Sasuke grimaced. He really didn't want to change out of his house clothes and take a half hour train ride to the club for one battle – especially not one against that bastard who saw Yukimura in such a perverse light – but Yukimura just had that power over him sometimes. He was like a little brother to Sasuke; one he felt the need to protect and beat upside the head if he ever got himself into any stupid situations.

The boy adjusted his headband as he entered the club, easily slipping past the drunken customers and horrible karaoke singers to the stairway to the dance floor. He greeted the guard with a short wave, then bounded up the steps to where the real mess was about to unfold. With forest green eyes he scanned across the sea of people for Yukimura and managed to find him in the middle of a small crowd. He squeezed through said crowd with ease and tapped the boy on the shoulder.

"Hey there, Danna," he waved, "Sorry I'm late, I mi—"

"Sasuke, you did make it!" Yukimura beamed, completely disregarding Sasuke's excuse. He gestured to Masamune, who looked extremely impatient and restless, "This is Date Masamune-dono, our competition. The man beside him is Motochika-dono, a friend of mine I made the other night." Motochika nodded a hello, in which Sasuke returned in silence.

"Is this who we're battling against?" Sasuke asked, his eyes not leaving Motochika. Yukimura shook his head.

"No, Masamune-dono's partner hasn't arri—"

"Ah, took ya long enough, Kojuro!" Masamune called over his rival's shoulder. Yukimura tensed up in anticipation and turned around to meet the eyes of an older man, his dark brown eyes merely glancing in his direction before they returned to Masamune.

"I apologize for taking so long, though in my defense you rarely ever feel the need to call me here," Kojuro sighed. He greeted Motochika, who nodded in return. Yukimura noticed that the white haired teen seemed really distracted, his eyes occupied by his phone every few minutes or so. He paid it no mind and instead went to introduce himself.

"You are Masamune-dono's dance partner, I'm assuming?" He inquired to Kojuro. The man nodded, finally acknowledging him in full, "I am Sanada Yukimura, your opponent for this challenge. It's a pleasure to meet you." He bowed slightly out of respect, in which Kojuro's stoic expression softened a bit in appreciation.

"I'm Sarutobi Sasuke, this kid's dance partner," the lighter brunette chimed in. Kojuro nodded and looked at Masamune, who seemed even more impatient than before.

"You sure you want to do this, Masamune-sama?" Kojuro crossed his arms as he looked at the furious teen before him. It hadn't come to mind before, but he never really heard much of what happened when he and Motochika came home from the club that night. To see that this polite and rather small teen could make Masamune so furious was rather intriguing; especially in a crowded place like this where there was a higher chance of anybody else rubbing him the wrong way.

Masamune snarled and waited impatiently for the current song to end so their rematch could begin. He glanced at Kojuro with an intimidating spark in his eye, "_Had no choice._ My pride is on the line here, Kojuro. There's no way in hell I'm losing to this kid."

"I-I told you I didn't mean anything by it!" Yukimura whined, a nagging feeling in his chest weighing down on him again.

"Like hell I'm gonna believe that!" Masamune scoffed, "Either way, I'm not a fan of ties, so you're dancing this rematch battle whether you like it or not!"

**[Cue: Bonfire – Knife Party]**

Yukimura glared at Masamune as sparks of electrifying tension rose between them. Sasuke watched as the brunette clenched and unclenched his fists as if deciding whether or not to clock him right in the face and he couldn't help but laugh a little. He readjusted his headband and clapped a hand on Yukimura's shoulder as the new song began, "Calm down, Danna, I'm sure this match'll be decided really easily." He smirked in Masamune's direction, causing even more tension to build between the four as the dance floor cleared. Motochika and Ieyasu stood off to the side where they had a good view of both of their friends. They glanced at each other, then turned their heads to the match in anticipation. Sasuke pulled Yukimura back and gestured to the open space before them, "Ladies first."

Masamune just about lost it then and it took Kojuro having to hold him back by the shoulder to keep the dragon from pouncing on Sasuke. With a harsh shove, Kojuro managed to snap him out of his rage (but only for a second as the glare was shot at him instead).

"Focus!" he ordered the teen, amazed at his anger but annoyed with it as well. Masamune gave a small 'tch' before losing himself in the merciless bass. His body moved differently from his fluid and controlled movements in the previous dance. He wasn't freestepping as much and instead his body seemed untamed; rigid and intimidating as it hit the powerful bass kicks. Yukimura watched in amazement and cold fury as Masamune incorporated his near flawless poplocking talents with his freestepping. Kojuro complemented the boy's talents as well with his own similar style, though it wasn't nearly as intimidating as Masamune's.

As the bass reverberated through his entire body, the one-eyed teen channeled the raw energy of the song and mixed it with his own intoxicated emotions and adrenaline. The sheer fluidity of his movements and the intense fire in his eye almost gave the impression of an actual dragon possessing his very being. Intimidation took over not just the crowd, but Masamune himself. Where did this fire come from? More importantly, why is it only now of all times that he felt so inspired and alive? That pony-tailed bastard; it's _his_ fault. Something about him – possibly even his existence in general – ticked him off in ways Masamune didn't even know were possible. It disgusted him, but at the same time it intrigued him. His senses were heightened and he was now aware of the fact that, without a doubt, he was dancing to impress.

Once the bass kicked up again for the last half of his turn, Masamune ran his fingers over the brim of his hat and smoothly pulled it from his head as he bowed, mockery poisoning his smirk. He stood up straight and retraced the golden brim symbolizing a crescent moon, then stepped back allowing Yukimura to drown in the high tension and fierce competition. No matter what feelings were brewing inside of him, Masamune was more than determined not to lose this battle. Whether it was to impress or to pummel the hell out of the little bastard, he decided to let his dancing do the talking.

"You look a little scared over there, Sanada," He called across the dance floor to Yukimura. The brunette was dazed, his brown eyes clouded in an unreadable emotion. Masamune wasn't sure what the hell was wrong with the kid, but the look in his eyes taunted him and made something in his stomach twist into a knot.

"Masamune-sama, don't taunt the boy," Kojuro warned, the concern finally showing in his face. He'd never seen Masamune so riled up. If these taunts continued anymore, who knows what would happen? If anything, Toshiie and Matsu wouldn't be welcoming them back into the club for a really long time…

"Liven up a bit, Kojuro!" Masamune barked, then turned his gaze back to Yukimura and Sasuke. He smirked with a wild look clouding his blue-grey eye, "Show me what you got, little lotus flower!"

Sasuke watched as Yukimura wasted no time filling in the wide open dance floor with his quick glides, isolating every single beat and backbeat of the song. He easily fell in step with Yukimura, assessing how he was going to begin dancing. He kept his eyes on his brunette friend, watching as he silently bounced in place to the main beat. This was his usual practice, an old habit he picked up from jumping rope in Master Shingen's arena. The boy's eyes focused on the dragon standing before him, completely dismissing his dance partner. Sasuke couldn't help but smirk inwardly. They had really similar habits, he and Masamune, and homing in on his prey was one of them.

Yukimura slowly but surely began picking up his pace while he c-walked in circles around the dance floor. He averted his eyes to his feet, losing himself in his own little world now. His varied V-steps and smooth footwork accented the reggae-like swing of the song, and coupled with his distracted gaze the whole routine seemed to give off a surreal magic. Sasuke followed suit and shadowed his footsteps, copying his every move a few beats behind but in a way that just built upon the magic Yukimura displayed. Masamune kept his eyes locked on his opponents, half enchanted by their display and half enraged at their fast footwork.

Although Yukimura wasn't one to play favorites as far as music went, he knew he really liked intense dubstep. When the bass kicked up again he wasted no time at all in kicking up his own flames, his feet weaving in and out and around themselves in blindingly fast succession. His eyes never left his red and black checkered shoes, as it helped him concentrate on maintaining his inhuman speed along with making sure he didn't trip up. The flashing floor tiles of the dance floor were a bit eyes straining, but he easily got used to it. When he found a decent rhythm to his steps, he looked up and immediately shot a challenging glare at Masamune. He caught the slight shiver in the man's shoulders and smirked inwardly, his rebellious fire burning in the pit of his stomach and spreading throughout his entire body. He and Sasuke riddled the dance floor with incomprehensibly fast steps and eased their way into a shuffle, the heavy waves of the bass vibrating through their stomps. Yukimura reveled in the crowd's immense cheers and taunts. He caught a glimpse of a few of the people in the crowd taunting him to up his ante and his devilish side began to show. Sasuke knew this side pretty well and he was always really amused when it would be brought to light.

As the pony-tailed boy pleased the crowd (and consequently plucked at Masamune's nerves), he effortlessly untied the red sash tied at his waist. Upon catching the red cloth in his hands, he slowed his steps and stopped a foot or so away from Masamune. The lights that danced to the rhythm and hype of the club played to Yukimura's taunt well, as they casted a menacing red glare in his bright brown eyes. He wrapped the headband around both of his hands and pulled, tightening the cloth in his grasp. He smirked.

"I'm more _amused_ than scared, One-Eyed Dragon," Yukimura purred, a condescending yet smug tone riddling his otherwise neutral words. In a swift motion, the red cloth in his hands unraveled and was tied securely over Yukimura's forehead. The long tendrils of red cascaded down his back and swayed with his pony-tail as he returned to Sasuke's side on the dance floor.

Masamune growled and stormed after Yukimura, the taunt obviously doing a number on his temper, "Amused, huh? How about I punch that smug grin off your face for ya?!" He raised his arm to swing at Yukimura but was stopped as Sasuke and Kojuro pulled the two apart. The crowd roared with dirty taunts and shouts, different sections taking sides with the tiger and the dragon. Motochika sighed and helped Ieyasu in calming the crowd down before they made it any worse.

"Kojuro, what the hell are you doing?" Masamune hissed as he was dragged back down the stairs of the club. He craned his neck to glare at Yukimura who in turn glared back while Sasuke held him from following. Kojuro slapped the teen in the back of the head and urged him outside into the cold night.

"We can't afford for you to go damaging any property or killing anybody," Kojuro sighed, his words laced with sarcasm (although part of him was very serious, as always). Masamune scoffed.

"The brat started it!"

"That doesn't give you the right to finish it!" Kojuro seethed between clenched teeth. His cold brown eyes cut deep into the steel of Masamune's eye, and after a tense moment of silence the teen finally gave in. Kojuro drew in the cold air as he crossed his arms and turned towards the front door, "I'll leave you here to wait for Motochika-san. I have a few things to do before I head back to the apartment, so feel free to pick up something on the way back to eat. Whatever you do, don't do anything stupid, especially not anything involving Sanada-sama." He took one last look at Masamune before heading down the sidewalk, "I will say, though, he is a rather formidable rival. You made a good choice," was the last thing Masamune heard before his caretaker turned the corner.

It took a while, but Masamune allowed himself back inside the club, this time waiting around the bar area. He seated himself in a booth in a quieter corner of the establishment and stared at the people passing by on the streets through the tinted window. He sighed irritably and slumped in his seat.

"This is embarrassing," he snarled under his breath and slapped a hand to his face. He had half a mind to march back up the stairs and finish what he started with Yukimura, but he respected Kojuro and his wishes. Most of the time…

"What's embarrassing?" A rather chipper voice broke the dragon's train of thought. Masamune cringed and peeked through his fingers to see a boy his age wearing a (highly modified) bartending uniform. His hair was a mess of dark brown pulled into a high ponytail that flowed widely down his back, a couple feathers decorating the base of it. He smiled warmly and sat opposite of Masamune, though the teen didn't seem to feel very welcoming towards him.

"Why the hell are you here, circus boy?" Masamune hissed, glaring at the boy.

"Whaddya mean? I work here, of course!" The uninvited guest laughed. Masamune was not amused on a number of levels.

"That's a load of bull, Keiji; you don't get paid to work here!"

"Details, details…" Keiji waved his hand and relaxed in his seat as he got comfortable. A gentle song started playing throughout the bar and a smile played his lips, "Lighten up, Date-san. What's gotten you down? I haven't seen you this… flustered." The tense pause made it obvious that he was having trouble trying to find nice words.

"It's none of your business," Masamune sighed and fixed his eyes back on the window. Keiji tilted his head and kept his eyes on his company. Finding it hard to ignore his prying stare, Masamune sighed again, "I just got in a bit of trouble and I'm trying to _cool down_."

Keiji chuckled and nodded, "Alright then, I won't pry. Hey, listen, so you know how Toshi and Matsu-neechan hold events here about every month or so, right?"

"Yeah, obviously. I come all the time," Masamune smirked. The Maeda family owned the club he frequented, and while he and Keiji weren't on the best of terms, he really did appreciate some of the special perks he got just by talking to the guy. Usually Keiji would invite him to help set up these events and in turn would get special access. The only downside was the work that came with that little bit of treasure. The thought made the dragon frown and he propped his head on the base of his palm, "What do you want me to do this time?"

Keiji smirked inwardly, "You're pretty sharp, Date-san. Tomorrow morning I'll be painting murals to not only decorate for the event but to renovate the club in general. I was wondering if you would be interested in helping me in exchange for discounted tickets."

"Does your brother know you do this?" Masamune couldn't help but ask. Keiji laughed nervously and scratched the back of his head, "Well, not really but either way you seem to provide good business when you and your friends come by."

Masamune blinked, "You mean Chosokabe and me?"

"Well, yeah, but it's not just you two. Your other friends attract a lot of attention as well."

"Other…friends?" The one-eyed teen glared at Keiji, not sure who exactly he was referring to.

"I thought Ieyasu and Yukimura-kun were other good friends of yo—"

Masamune's fist found itself clocking Keiji in the face, "That little bastard ain't a friend of mine, _you see_? He's… pretty far from it." He relaxed back into his seat and crossed his arms. Although what he said wasn't completely untrue, he couldn't help but feel like it was a little wrong to say. Yukimura was his newly dubbed rival after all, right? That made him a bit more than a stranger, but less than a friend, right? "What… is he to me?"

"Pardon?" Keiji frowned as he rubbed his cheek and looked at Masamune curiously. The man sat dumbfounded in his seat, slouching slightly and his hands opening and closing as if to grasp on a thought that was out of reach. His steel grey eye focused on his palms as his eyebrows furrowed. Keiji blinked and tilted his head to observe the strange man, "You okay?"

"I mean, it's not like we've known each other for a long time… And he pisses me off like nothing has ever pissed me off before," Masamune clenched his jaw and balled his hands into fists, seemingly ignoring Keiji's presence, "But I don't know if it's hate anymore. Is it hate? Admiration? Nah, that's a load of bullshit… Well, no, maybe not."

"D-Date-san."

"But he just… He has this high amount of energy in him, like a hyperactive kitten. I don't even like cats."

"Date-san…"

"Hmm… He's like a fire. Sparked by lightning," Masamune chuckled, "_Burning up!_"

"Date-san, are you even listening to me?" Keiji had to suppress his laughter in fear of getting punched again, but Masamune still seemed preoccupied by his running thoughts, "Well while you're debating on what Yukimura-kun is to you, I guess I'll get back to work then." With a final glance in Masamune's direction, Keiji slid out of the booth and headed to the tables to continue his work. Just as he passed the staircase to the dance floor, Yukimura came flying clumsily down the stairs with an irritated Sasuke hot on his trail.

"What were you thinking, Danna?! Do you know how much trouble you would have been in?" The boy in the headband hissed as he pulled Yukimura back on his feet by his arm, "Think about what Master Shingen would've done if you ended up damaging anything, much less hurting somebody!"

"I… I didn't think about that," Yukimura muttered, ashamed of himself now that he was forced to think over his actions. Unable to focus on his tasks, Keiji took a detour to his fellow ponytailed friend.

"Something wrong, Yukimura-kun?" He asked with a raised eyebrow. Yukimura shook his head, as did Sasuke.

"It's nothing, Maeda-dono. Just a little bit of a… conflict," The brunette smiled reassuringly and turned back to Sasuke, "I apologize for my recklessness, Sasuke! I'll be sure to control myself next time, I promise!"

With a satisfied nod, Sasuke turned on his heel and headed for the door, "We better head home now before the trains close."

"R-Right!" Yukimura straightened his posture and turned to Keiji, "See you later, Mae-…" A loud thump and a shaking table caught Yukimura's attention, and he curiously leaned over to look past the tall brunette in front of him. He tensed up a little when he saw Masamune curled up under the table hiding in the shadows as if no one could see him. Yukimura smiled inwardly and straightened again, returning his eyes to Keiji (who was smiling to himself as well), "Ah, sorry. See you later, Maeda-dono!" Yukimura smiled quickly, then ran after his retreating friend. Keiji laughed and waved as he left, then turned around to see Masamune still hiding under the table. A smirk found itself upon his face and Keiji started thinking.

'_It's obvious these two have something going on between them,'_ he thought to himself, _'And after tonight, now I'm really curious to see how these two love birds will interact with each other…'_

"Well hey, if it isn't Keiji!" Ieyasu called as he made his way down from the dance floor. Motochika followed after him, distracted by his phone.

"Hey there, Ieyasu," Keiji waved, "You just missed Yukimura-kun. He and Sasuke had to catch the trains before they stopped running."

"I figured as much… Hey, have you seen Masamune anywhere?" Ieyasu glanced around the bar cautiously as he spoke. Motochika looked around too, locking his phone and returning it to his pocket as he walked around.

"Hey, son of a bitch!" He called, a sigh following after as his patience wore thin. After not seeing Date anywhere for a while, he let out a curse and walked around the room to search for him. He turned back to face Keiji. "He didn't already leave did he? I swear, that bast-ah!" Motochika let out a short yelp as a strong hand clawed and grasped his leg. He looked down to see Masamune harshly glaring up at him, some sort of fiendish aura emanating from him.

"Is he gone yet?" Masamune asked, half whispering, half growling. The white haired teen was confused at first but then caught on that he was asking about Yukimura.

"Yeah, he left before I even got downstairs," He said as he tried shaking Masamune's hand off his leg. "Get a grip already!"

"Sorry," Masamune grimaced, releasing Motochika's leg. He stood and dusted off his clothes nervously looking around. Noticing that Sasuke and Yukimura were nowhere to be found, he relaxed a bit. "So what's the plan now? Kojuro's out running errands, so we gotta get food somewhere."

Motochika warily glanced back at Ieyasu and Keiji and found them talking already. He looked back at Masamune distractedly. "Why don't you go home without me? I kinda wanna talk to Ieyasu a bit more," Motochika started.

"What? No way am I going home alone. You can talk to him later or even text him. Come on, let's go," Masamune ordered grabbing his friend's arm to pull him towards the door. Motochika shook him off.

"I'm not going home! I'm gonna talk to Ieyasu!" Motochika growled taking out the keys to his motorcycle. He threw them at Masamune's face. "Just drive home for all I care! Just get out of here already!"

Masamune rubbed his face where the keys hit, but held the keys warily. He couldn't help the elated smile that spread on his face. "You're seriously letting me drive your bike home?! Wait…. You're seriously letting my drive your bike home…. What are you planning?" He asked, his giddy mood suddenly one of apprehension.

"Nothing, I just don't wanna see your ugly mug for a while. Now I don't care where you go with it, just get away from me so I can go talk to Ieyasu," Motochika huffed impatiently. Masamune allowed another large grin to take over his face before nodding eagerly. Motochika watched amusedly as he all but ran out the door. He gave a small chuckle before returning to the bar where Ieyasu was talking to Keiji, who had finally gotten back to work. "Alright, I'm back and ready to plan things out. It was a lot tougher getting rid of Masamune than I had planned."

"You let him take your motorcycle home right? Isn't that a bit risky since the last trains are leaving now? How are you going to get home?" Ieyasu asked. The one-eyed teen gave a nervous laugh and scratched the back of his head.

"Yeah… About that, I kinda need to crash at your place tonight? And you kinda need to give me dinner too," He admitted sheepishly. Ieyasu sighed.

"Motochika, that is hardly the way to go about asking things, but I guess I can do that if it's for you. I'm guessing you'll need me to take you to Masamune's apartment tomorrow morning as well?" Ieyasu asked. Motochika nodded. "Very well, so what will you have us do Keiji?" Keiji then turned around to face them, cleaning a glass in his hands. He looked thoughtful for a minute then smirked at the two teens at the bar.

"Well, I had already invited Date-san to help me out in decorating the club, so I know where he'll be tomorrow… Or is supposed to be at least. You know how he likes to show up late and shirk his responsibilities," Keiji trailed off.

"I'll make sure he gets here tomorrow. And on time too," Motochika promised.

"Alright, I guess if that's the case, if only you could bring Yukimura here tomorrow, Ieyasu, then the two would be forced to talk to each other. No arguments, no dance battles, no pressure from the crowd, just a plain old conversation. Plus, the more hands I have to help, the faster I'd get done," Keiji smiled.

"I suppose I could do that. I don't see any reason for Yukimura to object to come here. I'll even stay and help you out, Keiji." Ieyasu offered.

"Great, because you see, we'll need them to work away from us so we gotta stay separated from them. It'll be a lot more fun now knowing that I'll have someone with me," Keiji said.

"I'll help you out too when I get Date here. There'll be no sense in me leaving just to come back to drag his ass home, so I might as well help out. But as far as getting those two together, I have a few ideas that might work," Motochika easily slipped into a smirk at this point.

"Motochika, I think you mean well, but we do have to be careful. Yukimura may be a bit dense, but he is most definitely shy. If he catches on, he will make a big scene of it by shouting how shameful we are," Ieyasu groaned.

"Haha, I remember when I first asked the little guy if he had a girlfriend. His face was so red and he just shouted 'That's shameful!' non-stop," Keiji laughed.

"Don't worry he won't catch on. Besides, Date is a bit of a wild card. He'll be sharp as a tack one second and then dumb as a sack of hammers the next. I'm no fool. We'll have to tread carefully around this, but I've got a few tricks up my sleeves to at least get them talking and not arguing," Motochika explained.

"Great! I'm glad I can count on you guys for help on this! Maybe after this Date-san will lighten up after knowing the joys of love," Keiji exclaimed happily. Motochika gave a short laugh.

"Love? I'd be surprised if Masamune would ever know the joys of love," he snorted. Keiji's smile instantly fell and he regretted his choice of words. "What I mean is, Masamune isn't one to know about those things. I can't really picture the guy being in a relationship. I'm just hoping for these two to become good friends. Don't get me wrong, I see something special between them, but I doubt they'll ever progress to that stage."

"You may be right about that, Motochika, but you'd never know. The power of bonds work in mysterious ways," Ieyasu smiled coyly. Motochika deadpanned and leaned his head on the bar.

"Why did I become friends with such pansy lovers like you guys?" He sighed gloomily. Ieyasu and Keiji just laughed. Ieyasu gently patted him on his back.

"We ought to be leaving now, Motochika. It's getting pretty late, and we will need some sleep if we're gonna be helping Keiji tomorrow. By the way, what time would you like us to be here?" Ieyasu asked, trying to pull the somber Motochika from his seat.

"I'd like to start somewhere around 9:30 tomorrow morning, so make sure you're here then," Keiji said.

"Will do. Come on, Motochika, help me out a little here," Ieyasu grunted, now lugging around a heavy white haired man. He sighed and started walking himself though Ieyasu still helped him out. "Just how tired are you?"

"See you guys tomorrow!" Keiji called after his friends, before they left the bar. Once they left, Keiji smiled and started cleaning the glass surface of the bar. '_I guess tomorrow will be one interesting day,' _Keiji thought to himself. He hummed to himself as he cleaned the bar, anticipating what was sure to come.


	5. Blue Crimson

**(A/N:)** So this chapter was originally 30,000 words because there was so much we wanted to put into it, but we HAD to cut it down to size... So look forward to some semi-fast replies over the next couple days! Anyway, thanks a bunch for the super kind reviews and I hope you enjoy the chapter. Sorry for any inconsistencies or mistakes, we're trying to fix them as we see them.

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**Chapter Five: Blue Crimson**

* * *

A loud banging rang throughout the house, startling Motochika awake. He sat up quickly but sleepily looked around, not quite fully awake yet. "Ieyasu! Come out here right now! I know you're in there! I heard you snoring from out here!" shouted an angry voice. Motochika slapped his hands over his mouth and cursed himself for being such a heavy sleeper. Unsure of what to do, Motochika started sneaking around to reach the stairs. He let out a loud string of curses after hitting his leg on the corner of a table. "Ieyasu! Answer me!"

"What in the world is going on down here? Motochika, are you okay?" Ieyasu asked, turning on the lights to the living room. Motochika was curled on the ground holding his shin, tears in his eye. He was biting his lip in an attempt to be quiet. To answer Ieyasu's question, Motochika just nodded and then pointed to the front door. More banging was heard.

"Ieyasu, you coward! Come out here and face me like a man!" the shouting continued. Ieyasu chuckled nervously and helped Motochika stand.

"It sounds like Mitsunari is at it again. I'm sorry, Motochika, but he's been doing this lately. Ever since Hideyoshi-sama and Hanbei-sama died in that car accident, he's been arguing with me almost non-stop. Just sneak out the back door and take my car to Masamune's apartment. I know it's a bit early, but I don't want you getting stuck here. I'll see you tomorrow, my friend," Ieyasu said ushering Motonari out his back door.

"Alright, I'll see you then, Ieyasu," Motonari bid farewell before racing down to Ieyasu's car. He then started driving down the road, glancing back to see Ieyasu and Mitsunari arguing on Ieyasu's doorstep. He had to admit he felt a bit sorry for his friend, but he was glad for this opportunity to escape Mitsunari's rage.

Finally inside of Masamune's apartment, Motonari set his keys on the coffee table and plopped face first on the couch. He let out a soft sigh at the comfort the couch gave him. His life was nothing but trouble lately and this couch seemed to make it all better. Motochika grabbed the pillow in front of him and pulled it into a tight hug. He was mentally preparing himself for the plan that would start in the morning. He soon fell asleep, not aware of the consequences that would follow.

* * *

Early the next morning, Masamune silently crept downstairs, scoping out the area. Spotting his target on the coffee table in front of Motochika, Masamune smirked then continued creeping into the living room taking great care not to wake up Motochika. Once he was close enough, Masamune swiped the keys and continued on quietly to the door.

"Going somewhere, Masamune-sama?" Kojuro asked as he exited the kitchen, drying his hands on a rag as he had just finished doing the dishes. Masamune jumped and almost shouted but held it in. He grasped at his quickly beating heart and turned around to glare at Kojuro.

"Geez, Kojuro. Are you tryin' to give me a heart attack or something?" Masamune hissed softly enough to not wake Chosokabe. He let out a deep breath and addressed Kojuro calmly. "If you must know, I'm goin' to the club. Motochika is sleeping so I'm just gonna let him be."

"You act like Motochika-san is a light sleeper..." Kojuro muttered, allowing himself a sideways glance at the sleeping teen. Though Kojuro had been speaking at a normal volume, Motochika could be heard snoring loudly. "Is there a specific reason you're going to the club? I know you get bored, Masamune-sama, but surely you can't be suffering that badly."

"Well, I mean maybe. I'm not sure. I'm not exactly too bored. If I were I'd just wake up Motochika's lazy ass. I just got a feeling that I should go to the club right now," Masamune said turning towards the door again. A light buzzing in Masamune's back pocket alerted him. He quickly pulled out his cellphone to see yet another "urgent" text incoming from Keiji. "Besides, you never know when the perfect opportunity to mouth off someone annoying will come. I might as well take the opportunity while it's handed to me on a silver platter."

Kojuro couldn't help but chuckle at Masamune's logic, "Well since I can't argue with that, just make sure you stay out of any legal trouble. And please be sure to come back at a reasonable time. Let's not think about what awaits you if Motochika-san wakes up and his bike isn't here..."

"Psssh! I can handle him," Masamune scoffed though he was panicking inside because those words had some threat behind him. Masamune reached for the doorknob and hesitated. "I won't stay out too late. I promise. You go rest and take a night of from being such an old man, okay Kojuro?" Masamune opened the door and continued to the parking garage where he started Motochika's motorcycle. He drove down the street to the club thinking only of how he was going to handle that idiotic circus clown when he arrived at the club.

* * *

Keiji stood outside of the club opening the boxes and assorting the cans by color as he needed them to finish the mural he was working on. Yumekichi, his pet monkey, helped him set up the cans in rows. As he was busy rolling a can of blue paint up to the rest of the line, a loud roar of a motorcycle caused the poor monkey to scurry up Keiji's shoulder and hide in his hoodie for protection. Keiji turned his head to see who it was that arrived and smiled, already knowing who it was, "Ah, Date-san! You made it!"

Masamune shut off the engine and angrily stomped over to Keiji. He grabbed a handful of Keiji's hoodie and pulled him towards his cold glare. "Why did you have to send me so many 'reminder texts' today, Maeda? It better be something important," Masamune snarled shoving Keiji away. Keiji tumbled into the paint cans almost knocking them over but somehow managed to prevent any paints from spilling. Masamune took notice of the cans before glancing up at Keiji in disbelief. "Paint? You're not seriously asking me to paint are you?"

Keiji managed a nervous laugh as he found his footing again; fixing the rows of cans that Yumekichi worked so hard in setting up, "Well, I didn't call you to help me paint exactly. Toshi and Matsu-neechan put me in charge of decorating the outer walls to fit the theme," He gestured to the big canvas board mounted on the wall of the club. Usually the canvas was open to anybody who wanted to show a little graffiti love to the club (whether they were gangs or loving street artists like Keiji), but on rare events they moved the public canvas to the opposite wall and reserved the front entrance canvas for special occasions. This was one of those occasions, "I will have to say, though, I am running a little low on help, and the other people I asked to come down earlier haven't arrived yet... So if you weren't busy, maybe you could help me paint?" Yumekichi climbed out of Keiji's hood then and moved over to a box which had yet to be sifted through. From the box, he pulled out a few paintbrushes, holding one up tentatively to Masamune.

Masamune warily glanced down at the brush the monkey held outstretched to him. He stood still silently debating his options. With one glance up at Keiji's hopeful face however, Masamune sighed begrudgingly and swiftly snatched the brush from the monkey's hands. He crouched and began looking at the different paint cans before him. Even though Masamune wasn't looking, he could feel Keiji's smile beaming towards him. "Don't get me wrong. I'm not doing this for you. I'm only gonna be doing this 'till your 'friends' show up to help you," Masamune announced proudly.

"I wouldn't expect anything less of you, Date-san," Keiji said continuing to sort through the variety of paint cans.

Once everything was sorted out, they both looked at the blank canvas wall before them. Masamune nervously scratched the back of his head. "Just so you know, I'm not a great artist. I'm not really sure what help I can be to you..."

Keiji shook his head, "This won't be too hard, I promise. We're just gonna be using this paint to set the backgrounds for the graffiti. I've already divided the canvas into four squares, and each square will be a different color." He pointed to the four paint cans closest to his feet, "These two will be the squares on the left - your side - and the other two will be the ones on the right - my side. It doesn't matter which color is on top, so you don't have to worry about that. Sound easy enough?" Seeing Masamune nod reassured Keiji, though he could definitely see the obvious reluctance in the man's eye. Keiji sighed, then set up the ladder for Masamune, "Here, you can use it while I work on the bottom square first."

Elsewhere, Yukimura shoved his hands in the pockets of his plaid jacket as he stood at the train station, waiting for his friend to arrive so they could head out to their destination. He sighed for what felt like the umpteenth time and checked his phone. The most recent text was received 10 minutes ago by Ieyasu, saying "On my way!" Yukimura frowned and stared at the passing trains and people, apologizing over and over in his head to the street artist waiting on his arrival.

It was another 10 minutes later until Yukimura heard his name being called through the crowd. "Yukimura! I'm sorry I'm late. Mitsunari was having a hard time letting me go in the middle of our argument. I'm here now though so let's go catch the next train," Ieyasu offered with a smile leading Yukimura to the recently arrived train. They stood, holding onto the handrails only out of habit rather than need. Ieyasu glanced at Yukimura who seemed a bit on edge and smiled to himself. Ieyasu hadn't planned on running late, but just accomplishing the task of getting Yukimura to the club would be fine.

After a little thought, the brunette looked to his friend, who seemed distracted by the ads that played on the small screens overhead, "What do you think caused Maeda-dono to call us both to the club? I didn't think he was a dancer..." He trailed off, awaiting Ieyasu's answer.

Ieyasu glanced curiously at his shorter friend before giving a soft chuckle. "You didn't know? Keiji's brother and sister-in-law own the club," Ieyasu paused to allow the boy a sound of shock escape. Yukimura immediately flushed in embarrassment for being so loud on the train. He offered small apologies before turning back to let Ieyasu continue. "Since his family owns the place, they often give Keiji some work to do. Keiji is actually quite a popular street artist so he often decorates the club for special events. I'm willing to bet that he's asking us to help him with those decorations."

"Decorations?" Yukimura thought about it and lit up instantly, a wide smile gracing his lips, "That actually sounds like fun. It's a nice change of pace from dance battles." Though he didn't make it very obvious, Yukimura was in truth disappointed. There haven't been many good opportunities to dance, and when he did manage to sneak off to the club to dance, he never ran into any good opponents with the exception of Masamune recently. Before he could control himself, he sighed again, resting his head on his arm as it held onto the handle above him while the train came to a stop.

Ieyasu lead Yukimura off the train towards the club, a smile on his face. They walked along in light conversation until the club came into view. Yukimura excitedly walked a bit faster urging Ieyasu along. It wasn't long before they could make out Keiji painting the wall near a ladder. "Ah, Keiji! We've made it! Sorry we're so late!" Ieyasu called out. Keiji started as the ladder began to shake and wobble. It was then that Ieyasu noticed the person standing towards the top. They rushed over to help Keiji steady the ladder. A few droplets of blue paint fell to the ground fortunately landing on no one below. All three heads looked up at the one eyed teen on the ladder.

"Sorry about that! I didn't mean to- Hey, wait it's you! What the hell are you doin' here?" Masamune shouted quickly descending the ladder to reach the ground.

Yukimura tensed up at the sight of seeing Masamune, his recently dubbed rival, descending the ladder he stood on to come face to face with him. He glanced at Keiji and Ieyasu, but slumped a little seeing as they were distracted in their own private conversation. Feeling something akin to defeat, Yukimura turned and looked at Masamune, "Maeda-dono called Ieyasu-dono and I here because there was something urgent he needed help with. I could ask the very same thing to you, as I wasn't expecting to see you here." He took a good look at Masamune, noticing he had small paint marks on his wrists and his forearms. Yukimura couldn't help but smile at this. 'Guess he's not much of a painter.'

Masamune smugly grinned down at Yukimura. "Well Keiji called me here to help his family with the bar and everything inside, but then when you guys didn't show up he was practically begging for me to help him. I felt so bad that I just had to help him out. As you can see I did a pretty bang-up job too," Masamune paused to show case his work on the canvas wall. "So, Circus Boy! Is there anything else you'd like me to help with?" For some unknown reason, Masamune just didn't want to go help inside knowing that Yukimura would be helping Keiji outside.

Keiji turned his attention from Ieyasu to Masamune, and then thought as he looked back up at the canvas. It had quite a good deal painted, but it wasn't so much that Keiji didn't still need help covering the last of it, "I'll have Ieyasu help me with the last of this canvas. You and Yukimura-kun can work on the murals inside since I finished the linework for it already." While under the (suddenly) surveilant gaze of the One-Eyed Dragon, Keiji led him and Yukimura inside where the bar was set up. It was a Sunday, and although the bar was usually open on Sundays, it didn't open until late so it was barren and quiet. Keiji walked over to the far wall where the staircase up to the dance floor was and spread out a large tarp on the floor.

"Wow, did you really draw all of this, Maeda-dono?" Yukimura asked with awe and amazement shown plainly on his face. He stared wide-eyed at the intricate linework, leaning in on certain parts to take in the immense detail. Keiji laughed and nodded in response.

"The lines should be pretty dry by now, so spraypainting shouldn't be much of a problem. If you guys are gonna use the paint cans from outside, be careful about painting over the lines. If you mess up, don't worry, I can always go back over it... J-Just try not to mess up too much." He added as he saw a challenging glint in Masamune's eye. Yukimura nodded once and stood straight, clenching both of his hands into fists.

"Right! I, Sanada Yukimura, will not let you down!" he said in a clear voice. After saying so, he took off his jacket and ran over to a nearby table to hang it on a chair, safe from the dangers of paint stains.

While he was gone, Keiji smiled and patted Masamune on the shoulder as he turned to leave, "Play nice, okay? If you make any messes, you'll be the one cleaning up." A playful smirk was the last thing Masamune could see before the street artist walked out of the club's entrance, leaving the dragon alone with the tiger cub.

"Tch, meddling monkey," Masamune cursed before gathering a bunch of spray paint cans. Yukimura glanced curiously over at him before stealing a can from Masamune's arms. Masamune glanced at Yukimura sourly before setting the paint cans down and grabbing just one to paint with. He first looked at the color in his hands then frowned at it. Yukimura noticed Masamune's hesitance and put his spray can on a table.

"Is there something wrong?" Yukimura asked.

"I don't like this color," Masamune said flatly, tossing the red can to Yukimura, who caught it after faltering again. The brunette pouted and glared a little at Masamune, who in turn didn't seem to care.

"Well maybe I don't like this color..." Yukimura said and tossed the blue spray can at Masamune, "You can paint with that, I'll paint with red. It's my favorite color anyway." Masamune caught the can effortlessly and raised an eyebrow at Yukimura's behavior. He stared at the paint can in his hands and smiled. It may have been unintentional, but blue was Masamune's favorite color. Hearing nothing else from Yukimura, he looked back at him questionably.

Yukimura ignored the stare and after testing the spray can on the tarp, he set out to paint the mural silently. There wasn't much use in talking to Masamune, as they only seemed to argue anyway, so he guessed the best way to handle the situation was to keep to himself. He frowned a little, lost in thought, but painted his voice away and prayed that time would pass by quickly.

Masamune started spray painting the wall though he didn't say anything to Yukimura. He could sense that he didn't want to speak to him, yet there was something inside him that just couldn't accept that. While he was spraying he racked his mind for a topic of conversation. He thought long and hard about something to say, but it was getting really hard for Masamune. Eventually he subconsciously let out a tiny growl and began to spray for violently as opposed to how peacefully he sprayed just a few moments ago.

Upon hearing something close to a feral beast to his right, Yukimura shivered and backed up from Masamune, looking at him. Seeing as it was just Masamune, he softened his expression to that of concern, "M-Masamune-dono, are you okay?" He watched as the man began spray painting with sharper and wider movements, most likely out of rage. Yukimura panicked and grabbed Masamune's arm, holding it tightly. "Calm down! You'll end up messing up the mural if you keep doing that." Masamune turned to glare at the offending arms restricting his movements but then softened that to a mildly annoyed glance when he saw it was Yukimura. The brunette glared up at the taller, wondering if this guy had any shred of his being that even remotely cared about other people. He knew it was wrong to judge people like that, but... this guy made it pretty hard to find a good side.

Masamune turned away from Yukimura to glance at the mural. "I didn't mean to mess it up. I was just... getting annoyed by something. I'm fine now though so let's get back to making this mural look awesome for Keiji," Date said gently tugging on his arm as if to ask permission to have it back. Masamune absolutely refused to meet Yukimura's eyes though in case the boy saw how embarrassed and nervous he was.

Yukimura let go of Masamune's arm, but rather than back away he leaned forward and tried to look Masamune in the eye, "Are you sure you're okay? If you're annoyed by something you should tell me. It's not good to paint when you're distracted." Feeling as though he was being a little too persistent, he finally stepped back a bit, but held his gaze.

Masamune turned towards Yukimura quickly to close some of the distance that Yukimura had created but then stopped and stepped back feeling he would only make the situation worse. He mussed up his hair while debating telling Yukimura his problem or not. Finally he let out a long sigh and averted his eyes back to the mural. "I'm not particularly angry at anything really. Just, I figured I should have some sort of conversation with you to get to know you, but I just couldn't think of something to say that didn't sound lame," Masamune explained begrudgingly.

Yukimura blinked and stood in silence, "...P-Pfft!" Without warning, the boy burst into laughter, his hands clutching his stomach as he doubled over. He could feel the dragon's gaze burning holes into his head, so he forced his laughter down to a chuckle, "S-Sorry, Masamune-dono, but I really found it funny... I didn't expect you to want to get to know me after what happened, but I assure you, I'm very easy to talk to." He beamed a smile and picked up his spray can, returning to the mural. He puffed out his cheeks as he thought, not particularly aware of the childish habit, then he glanced at Masamune, "Let's see... For starters, how often do you come here?"

Masamune glared at Yukimura for the fit of laughter before haughtily turning to face the mural. He began spray painting in silence as he thought about an answer to Yukimura's question. "Hmmm... I guess you could say I come here a lot. It's not like I come on any specific days or anything. Just when I'm feeling particularly bored, when Motochika wants to come, when Kojuro wants to come, or when I think that there's gonna be some good talent that night. I probably come here a lot more than you though. That was my first time seeing you after all," Masamune mused taking great care in his work on the mural.

"Actually, you're wrong." Yukimura said in a simple tone. He shook the spray can again before continuing, "I come here all the time to dance for fun or to find people who provide a good challenge. Lately I haven't been dancing my best, so it's not that surprising you haven't seen me around before. Shuffling isn't even my specialty, but it's a style I dance the most since Sasuke doesn't like coming to the club much." He pouted as he said this and backed away from the wall to get away from the paint fumes.

Masamune was about to disagree with the boy, but then he remembered that he did indeed have another style of dance. He saw it in his dance battle with Yukimura and it was even more amazing than the shuffling he saw. "So you're talking about your c-walking style then? You can probably guess that tutting isn't my main style either. There just doesn't seem to be anybody good enough to handle my main style. That is except for you," Masamune paused to switch out cans. He pulled up a new can and then looked at Yukimura thoughtfully. "I guess it's for that reason that I'm not sure whether I should thank you or beat you into the ground."

Yukimura chuckled and crouched down, painting in details on the bottom portion of the mural. "Funny, we have something in common then," he said, looking up at Masamune with a challenging stare. He studied him for a moment, and then remembered something. "Is your specialty freestepping, by any chance? I have to admit; you caught me off guard in that last battle because I've never come across anyone else who freesteps other than Sasuke and myself..." Deciding somewhere in his talking that painting wasn't gonna get done, Yukimura sat cross-legged on the tarp and looked up at Masamune, awaiting a reply.

Masamune gave a short bark of a laugh before plopping himself on the ground. He let his elbow rest on his knee then set his chin in his palm. He gave a very confident smirk to Yukimura. "Wouldn't that be good then if freestepping were my main style? It's actually something I just picked up. I haven't really met anyone else who can do it so I never use that style often. My main style of dancing is just freestyling to dubstep. That can take me places."

Yukimura let out a sound of enthusiastic awe, "Wow that sounds amazing! Freestyle itself is very broad, but there's so much room for individual styles... It definitely suits someone like you, Masamune-dono!" Yukimura couldn't exactly pin it, but he was definitely enjoying getting to talk to Masamune like this. Most of his friends lived quite a distance away, so talking to them proved to be a little of a challenge. Even Sasuke was usually busy and disappeared often into the bustling city. It was nice to sit down and talk face-to-face with someone he could relate to - rival or otherwise.

The two teens spent a good deal of time talking to each other; whether they were arguing over food or laughing over manga and television shows. It wasn't until Keiji came in to check on them that they realized they had jobs to finish. "Hey, I thought you guys would've been at least halfway done by now!" Keiji said with a small frown, "Ieyasu and I already finished the canvas outside, we're just waiting for it to dry so we can move on to part two. What have you two been doing this entire time?"

"Ah! You have my sincerest apologies, Maeda-dono! We were just talking, and I guess we lost track of time!" Yukimura apologized, turning himself to slightly bow. Masamune just stared blankly at Yukimura shocked that people still bow like that during an apology. Keiji glanced at Ieyasu beside him and sighed.

"I guess it's all fine and good that you guys are talking, but I was really hoping you would help lighten the work load a bit," Keiji trailed off.

"The event is next Saturday, guys. While I'm happy to see you guys bonding and playing nice with each other, I think it'd be better if you did that while working," Ieyasu added.

Yukimura looked at the clock on the far wall, "We should be able to get at least halfway done by lunchtime, so let's do our best, alright Masamune-dono?" He handed Masamune a paint bucket and a brush, then went to readjusting his ponytail so it wouldn't get caught in the paint.

Keiji nodded satisfied by Yukimura's promise. "Ieyasu and I are going on a small trip to pick up supplies for the upstairs. We'll pick you guys up something to eat since we should be back by then."

"Alright, whatever sounds good," Masamune gruffed out, trying to turn his attention to the mural rather than Yukimura adjusting his ponytail. He took a deep breath and began painting the canvas once more. Keiji and Ieyasu waved then left to go off on their errands. As Yukimura finished adjusting his ponytail and returned to painting, Masamune turned towards him. "I guess I should apologize. It really was my fault in the first place mistaking you as a girl. I don't know why I thought that, but I gotta ask you. Why is your hair so long anyways? Isn't it hard to keep up with it especially in such a loose ponytail like that all the time?"

Yukimura tilted his head at the question, and then stared off into space as he thought of his answer. A smile and a light blush graced his features, and then he scratched his cheek sheepishly, "Well when I was little, I had a habit of playing with scissors and I had a fascination with cutting up my hair... It got to the point where Oyakata-sama ended up punishing me if I so much as touched a pair of scissors, and he told me not to touch my hair. After that, I just... never bothered cutting it." He toyed with the messy bun he put his ponytail in and suddenly felt a huge wave of self-consciousness overtake him, "I might just end up cutting it though, it does look really ridiculous, I'm sure. N-Not to mention it would probably save the trouble of people mistaking me for a girl, like you did." He refused to look at Masamune as he grabbed a paintbrush and began painting. He wasn't filling in the lines like normal, but was distractedly painting circles and coloring them in. It was a childish way of doing the job, but he couldn't help it.

Masamune grabbed Yukimura's hand and pulled it away from the mural causing Yukimura to tense up and almost drop his brush. He gave a crooked grin to Yukimura and chuckled. "You are a horrible painter when you're thinking about something else." Masamune slowly released Yukimura's hand and turned back to painting calmly. "I didn't say it looked bad on you or that you need to get rid of it. I think it actually suits you and I can't picture you with any other hairstyle. I was just curious as to why it was a ponytail, so don't you dare think about cutting it off!" Masamune ordered glancing at Yukimura again. Yukimura just stared at him unable to think of a response to his order. While observing Yukimura, Masamune had an image of him with unreasonably short hair pass through his mind and he tried hard to stifle a laugh. It didn't work.

Yukimura puffed out his cheeks and glared, "What are you laughing it?!" he huffed and lightly punched Masamune in the shoulder. He tensed up immediately though as he saw a paint smudge appear where he punched. Yukimura swallowed a lump forming in his throat as he looked at his knuckles, and saw bright red paint smeared across them. He prayed Masamune wouldn't notice, but in the likely chance he did, he braced himself for the worst…

Masamune didn't just notice the paint. He stopped, stared at Yukimura in disbelief, then looked at the offending paint. He stared at it for a long while before turning back to Yukimura once again. "You see this? What you did here? You... _You just messed up your life!_" He narrowed his gaze into a semi-glare before readying his paintbrush with blue paint to dab Yukimura with.

Yukimura backed away hurriedly and flailed his arms around in defensive, "I-I didn't mean to I- I just...! But..." He dodged the oncoming paintbrush narrowly and shot Masamune a questioning look, "What does that even mean?! Speak Japanese!" In a desperate attempt to defend himself, Yukimura grabbed his paintbrush again and managed to land a pretty red blob on his nose. He tried not to laugh - he knew it was wrong and that he should have apologized - but it was just way too priceless for him to let go, "Y-You... You look like a clown, Masamune-d...d...Ahahaha!" He couldn't even bring himself to finish the honorific he was laughing so hard. _'S-Sorry, Masamune-dono!'_

Masamune growled and made another quick jab at Yukimura. "_Phantom Dive_!" he shouted bringing his paint brush down on Yukimura's face. He successfully painted a single blue streak from Yukimura's cheek to his chin. Masamune smiled satisfied of himself. "Take that, Sanada."

Yukimura pouted and pressed a hand to the blue mark on his cheek, mixing it with the red on his fingertips. With a new resolve, Yukimura grabbed a second paintbrush and fought with Masamune for the next hit. With a bit of clumsy timing, he managed to distract Masamune long enough to paint a line across his cheek, though it curved like a smile. With a new idea, Yukimura fought Masamune to the ground, pinning him and pressing two of his fingers on his cheek, creating two purple eyes above the red smile. Yukimura laughed, "Four hits to your one. Think you can beat that?" Yukimura smirked as he looked down at Masamune with a daring glare.

Masamune angrily shoved Yukimura off of him and rushed over to the paint supplies. He gathered six paint brushes and dipped them all in blue paint. He then stood and faced Yukimura outstretching an arm to him. "If it's a battle you want, then it's a battle you got. Just don't come whining to me when you're covered in blue," Masamune taunted before rushing after Yukimura. He let his arms fly in a fury desperate to cover Yukimura with paint. Though his hands were a bit shaky, he managed to get one of his hands to paint wavy streaks on Yukimura's forehead. Masamune paused for a second to laugh at him. "Haha! Looks like there's a river on your forehead, Yukimura! Should I call you Kawamura instead from now on?" Masamune boasted.

Yukimura snarled threateningly at the nickname, and then dove for the yellow paint bucket. He coated his brush in the paint and pounced on Masamune, holding nothing back as they ended up wrestling across the bar trying to paint each other. He let out a triumphant laugh as he painted a huge yellow moon across Dave's forehead, "Now your name suits you, Masa_MUUU_ne!" He laughed with a cheeky smile, "Though in this color, you look more like a Bananamune!"

Masamune growled and geared up for another round. "Say your prayers, Kawamura!" Masamune attacked Yukimura with much force and anticipation. They ended up wrestling once more until Masamune had pinned Yukimura to the ground. He then slashed mercilessly at Yukimura's face then his neck when he ran out of skin to paint on his face. "Heh, with this much blue paint on your skin you might as well be Aoandon. So scary too," he crooned mockingly, smirking at his handiwork.

Yukimura struggled under Masamune's weight but couldn't muster any strength to fight him off. Instead, he sighed in defeat and panted heavily, trying to catch his breath from all the fighting, "You may have won this time, Bananamune-dono, but I'll find a way to get back at you." He pouted as he glared up at Masamune, who still had him pinned. He was a bit thankful for the paint on his face, because it masked the red tint on his cheeks quite well, "Y-You... can let me up now..."

Masamune blushed and hesitated for a moment before moving away. He sat up and looked away from Yukimura in embarrassment. "Ah, sorry about that, Yukimura," Masamune trailed off in his words, unable to say anything else for fear of making things more awkward than they already were. Yukimura sat up and wiped his cheek, frowning at all the blue that rubbed off on his hands. He desperately rubbed at his cheeks and growled in frustration. Masamune stole glances over to Yukimura every now and then but kept his eyes elsewhere for the most part. He laughed at himself on the inside because his throat seemed unbearably dry which only happened when he was extremely nervous. Yukimura smirked when he saw that Masamune was a bit distracted. Cautiously, he dabbed his fingers with the last of the red on the paintbrush beside him, then carefully crawled over to Masamune.

"Hey, Bananamune-dono..." he called. As 'Bananamune' turned his head, Yukimura spread the red paint across his face, two lines on each cheek in the form of whiskers. Yukimura stuck out his tongue, his nose wrinkling slightly as he laughed, "Surprise attack!"

Masamune blushed and let out a squeaky growl, the result of him not knowing whether he should be angry or embarrassed. He quickly dabbed his fingers in the red making purple paint on his fingers. He reached out and grabbed Yukimura's chin making a purple streak from his bottom lip to the tip of his chin. Masamune was amazed at how smooth Yukimura's skin was and almost allowed himself to be distracted by that, but he masked his curiosity with a sly smirk. "It's not exactly a surprise, but it most definitely was an attack."

Yukimura shivered as Masamune's hand lingered on his chin. He stared at him for a moment, attracted by how striking the color of his eye looked against the clashing blue and red. He swallowed and pressed his lips in a firm line, "I just wanted the last attack." He retorted feebly. With that, he held Masamune's hand and drew a yellow swirl where the back of his hand was visible under his glove. Yukimura smiled, "We should probably get cleaned up soon so we can clean up the m...mmmMMMM- AAHH!" Yukimura screamed and pointed behind Masamune at the path of destruction the two made. There were paint marks all over the floor, puddles of paint pooling from overturned buckets, and even some splatters on the tables and chairs. What scared the boy clad in red the most, however, was the huge purple smear that ran across the mural, made by Yukimura and Masamune when they were fighting over paintbrushes.

Masamune turned and paled when he saw the mess they had made. He cursed and quickly stood up. "We've gotta hurry and clean this before they get back! Come on, let's go!" Masamune urged pulling Yukimura up to help him. Soon they heard a door being closed and light voices filled the air.

"Yukimura-kun~! Date-san~! We're back with lunch!" Keiji cried out happily. Masamune stiffened before collapsing to the ground face first.

"I accept my defeat," Masamune mumbled to the ground.

Yukimura followed suit, falling beside Masamune, "My deepest apologies, Maeda-dono!" He cried. Ieyasu and Keiji stared at the two, and then let their eyes trail over the mess they made. Ieyasu's mouth fell open in shock, ultimately surprised that they went from being good friends to tearing up the club in a matter of about an hour. He looked to Keiji, almost afraid for the two teens of the reaction to come.

Keiji got over his initial shock and glared at the two teens on the floor. He angrily marched over to them and slapped them both on the head. "I can't believe you two did this? You couldn't put aside your differences to paint a mural for an hour? Leave! Right now! If you wanna go at each other so badly then do it outside!" Keiji huffed indignantly. Yukimura looked up in shock.

"B-But Maeda-dono. Bananamune-don- No I mean- Masamune-dono and I meant no harm. At least let us help you clean up," Yukimura pleaded. Keiji stared down in wonder at Yukimura when he heard "Bananamune-dono" slip out. He gave an impatient sigh.

"Fine, I guess you two can help clean, but neither of you are going to hold another paintbrush!" Keiji ordered confidently before glancing over to the mural. A lone tear formed in Keiji's eye as he looked at the mural. "I've gotta fix that..." Keiji whined.

Yukimura flinched as he was yelled at, but nodded and headed to the men's bathroom to clean himself up, Masamune following shortly after. Once they were gone, Ieyasu sighed and put a hand on Keiji's shoulder, "Judging by the way Yukimura defended Masamune like that, I'm guessing this mess was more out of fun than out of harm. You can't get but so mad at them..." He examined all the damage and laughed at what little bit of work they did manage to finish, "You can tell they tried. If you want, I can stay and help you fix what they messed up. It's the least I can do." Keiji sighed and nodded.

"Yeah, I'd appreciate it. For now, I need to clean up as much of the paint off the furniture as I can before Matsu-neechan and Toshi come back." He placed the bags that held Yukimura and Masamune's lunches on the bar, and then reluctantly got to work on cleaning. Ieyasu smiled and helped Keiji along in the cleaning.

"Another good thing about this situation is that though it might not be happening the way we planned it, they certainly are getting closer to each other," Ieyasu offered, picking up some overturned paint buckets. Keiji smiled at that.

"You got that right. It shouldn't be long before those two totally lose themselves to love," Keiji grinned humming happily to himself. _Those two will be such love birds soon, and it's all because of this great plan we hatched up._


	6. Polar Connection

**(A/N:)** Forgive any mistakes you may see in this chapter, as it was beta'd rather quickly before being posted. Also, is anyone interested in reading a spin-off of Fantastic Baby that focuses on the side stories of Yukimura and Masamune's friends/enemies? This includes Motochika's story involving Mouri, Mitsunari's story, and many others to come. Lemme know in the reviews, if it's not too much trouble. Enjoy!

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**Chapter Six: Polar Connection**

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"Masamune-dono, why did you put so much paint on these brushes?" Yukimura pouted as he was left scrubbing the hell out of the pile of brushes they killed during their play-fighting. He growled a little in frustration as he pulled the paintbrush to his face to make sure all the paint was gone, but each time he did he found some stubborn bits and pieces that wouldn't come out. Masamune was in charge of wiping down the tables while Keiji was left scrubbing the floor.

"So much paint? Isn't that how much paint is supposed to be on the brushes?" Masamune asked scrubbing the table with much concentration. He glared at a dried speck of red paint that didn't seem to want to come off. He scrubbed harder but still it stayed caked onto the smooth surface. "You use such little paint it dries too quickly! I can't... Get it... _OFF_!" Masamune ended the sentence with a growl and he applied more pressure to the table. Soon he gave up and threw the rag on the table and folded his arms across his chest. "On every single table there's a little speck of red paint that just won't come off no matter how hard I scrub!"

Yukimura threw the last of the paintbrushes down in a huff and slumped in his seat, "Let us both swear never to take any sort of art class, whether it's together or on our own."

"Tch, that's a promise for me," Masamune said throwing his rag down on the table with a huff. Yukimura stood from his spot on the floor to sit at a table nearby. He groaned and smacked his head onto the table, his hair splayed messily over his neck. While it was still in the messy bun, some pieces fell loose and draped over his back like the original ponytail did. He sighed and closed his eyes, suddenly feeling exhausted. The bar was quiet, save for Keiji muttering things under his breath as he scrubbed the floor. It was very peaceful, and Yukimura really enjoyed moments like these.

The peace didn't last for long though, as a very angry voice muffled by the door grew increasingly louder from the outside. The door slammed open and in came Motochika, fuming mad and panting heavily as though he was running recently. Yukimura looked up from his place at the table to greet his friend, though he didn't lift his head because the cool surface was comfortable against his warm skin, "Hiya, Motochika-dono... What are you doing here? Did Maeda-dono call you too?"

Motochika ignored Yukimura and set his eyes on Masamune. "Masamune, you bastard! You stole my bike!" Motochika shouted gearing towards the teen. Masamune stayed seated and glanced up lazily at Motochika, a small smirk working its way onto his face.

"I didn't steal it. I borrowed it. I asked you for permission and you said yes," Masamune lied through his teeth. He let out a full smirk when he saw Motochika getting angrier.

"You're a liar. I was asleep! Anything I say when I'm asleep isn't true," Motochika argued.

"Oh really? Then what about when you say Magoichi's name in your sleep?" Masamune asked smugly. Motochika growled as a blush took over his face. He grabbed Masamune's jacket and pulled him towards himself.

"I said her name one time! And I thought I told you not to talk about that again," Motochika growled out.

"Magoichi? Did she stop by or something?" Ieyasu asked, obviously late to the party and not knowing the damage he caused by asking such a question. Yukimura couldn't help but laugh a little as Motochika's face grew redder.

Masamune grabbed Motochika's hand to peel it off of him then smiled back at Ieyasu coyly. "Oh, no. I was just mentioning how I met Magoichi a while back at a party when she refused this guy a dance. It was hilarious, and I never would've guessed that those two were childhood friends," Masamune laughed ending the argument he and Motochika were having. He turned back to Motochika and grinned. "I think we're about done with the cleanup, but since all of us are here anyways did you wanna hang out here? Or were you gonna bitch about your motorcycle some more and take me home?"

Motochika glared daggers at Masamune, trying to find some way to kindly punch his smug ass face into a wall, but no matter how badly he wanted to his body just didn't agree with him. He slumped and sat across from Yukimura, "I guess I'll just hang out here. I went through hell going through the crowded trains to get here; I'm not willing to go through traffic just to get back." He sighed and looked at Yukimura, who seemed to have fallen asleep with his head on the table and his arms holding his plaid jacket in his lap. Motochika laughed a little and raised an eyebrow, "The hell did you do to tired this kid out? I've never seen him so drained."

Masamune glanced at Yukimura and let a natural smile take over his face. "We just had a bit of a paint battle. I didn't think I'd tire him out that much," he gave a small chuckle still watching Yukimura's still form at the table. Keiji lifted an eyebrow at Masamune's words and scoffed.

"A bit of a paint battle? Both of you guys were covered in paint and the room was a total mess! We've only just barely finished cleaning and the mural still isn't finished!" Keiji cried out. Masamune waved him off and made his way towards Yukimura's table.

"Stop whining and complaining already. We got the place cleaned up and now you have Ieyasu and Motochika to help you with your mural. You guys go do that, and I'll take a break here with him. I'll join you in a little while when I feel up to it," Masamune said pulling out a chair and sitting across from Yukimura.

Motochika smirked at Masamune and stood up, taking off his jacket and leaving it on a separate table, "Sounds like you two got real friendly." he teased, but didn't dare press any further in fear of him bringing up Magoichi again.

Keiji let out an exasperated sigh and shook his head at Masamune, but partially understood his reasoning. He walked by and dropped off the bag of food at the table, "It might be a little cold but you can heat it up in the back, there's a microwave there." He said and nodded his head in said direction behind the bar. With one last look at Yukimura, Keiji smiled and returned to his mural, Yumekichi already setting up the paintbrushes.

"_Thank you_," Masamune muttered in his Engrish. He grabbed the bag and ruffled Yukimura's hair to get his attention. Yukimura blushed lightly at the awakening and slowly brought himself to the waking world. "You can rest here for a bit longer. I'm just gonna go reheat our food. I'll be back soon." Masamune let his hand linger in Yukimura's hair longer than he should have. His hair was so soft and smooth that Date almost went back for a second feel. Instead, he quickly walked away towards the microwave sneaking a few glances back to Yukimura.

After he'd nodded an okay as Masamune walked away, Yukimura then brought his jacket up onto the tablet and nuzzled it, allowing himself a couple more minutes of rest before he came back. He ran a hand through his hair, almost missing the gentle touch from earlier. He sighed and watched Keiji paint the mural, his eyes sliding shut as he grew bored. As pretty as art was to look at, he didn't find it interesting enough to watch for long periods of time.

Meanwhile, Masamune waited impatiently for the microwave to reheat their food, tapping his toes on the floor as if it would speed up the process. When the food was warm enough, Masamune quickly took it back to Yukimura and sat across from him again. He shoved the food in Yukimura's face before starting to eat himself. Yukimura let out an indignant squeak as the hot plate touched his cheek. "Here. Eat up. You look tired, so this'll give you some energy."

Yukimura sat up and stared at the food, mouth already watering, "T-Thanks, Masamune-dono." he mumbled and grabbed his chopsticks, "Itadakimasu~" he chirped before chowing down. He smiled warmly, "This is good. I haven't eaten since dinner last night, so it makes it even better!"

Masamune stared quizzically at the boy. "Why haven't you eaten since dinner last night? Do you like starving yourself?" Then Masamune looked over Yukimura's frame. He noticed that the boy was particularly thin. His stomach was flat and his tank top seemed too loose for his thin frame. His arms were also very thin, and if Masamune hadn't taken notice of the boy's strength in their paint battle, he'd go as far as to call the brunette fragile. But since Masamune knew of the boy's physique and strength he wasn't too worried about Yukimura's lithe figure. He was still worried of course, but he would never let it show that he was.

"Hmm? No, I don't do it on purpose, I promise!" Yukimura shook his head and rubbed the back of his neck nervously, "I'm not a very good cook, and neither is my caretaker. We normally order take out, but lately I've just been busy practicing my dancing and I easily forget to eat. The only real meal I'm guaranteed is dinner, since Sasuke manages to cook for us." He laughed a little, trying to ignore the heat rising to his cheeks. He didn't like people thinking he was pitiful, because in truth he really was fine. He was just an honest airhead with a lot of things on his mind, disturbing his usual routine.

Masamune nodded and continued eating. It made sense that the boy would unintentionally skip meals. He had never meant to accuse the boy of purposefully not eating, but it had just come out that way. He thought over what Yukimura had told him and smirked. "So you say that you've been practicing hard for the past few days right? Does that have anything to do with meeting me?" He couldn't help but ask. Part of him was just teasing the boy, but the other part was genuinely curious to see if he had indeed affected the other in any way.

The heat kept rising to Yukimura's face as Masamune spoke, and the question made his ears burn even more. He picked at his food as he pouted, his hand to his cheek as he propped his elbow on the table, "M-Maybe..." He muttered, shoving a riceball into his mouth to prevent anything embarrassing from slipping out.

Masamune sat still in shock, a blush forming on his face too. He wasn't expecting a straightforward answer like that. It wasn't a definite yes but the brunette didn't start an argument like he had originally thought. There was a soft clanking sound as Masamune dropped his chopsticks, but not even that pulled him out of his shock. Yukimura, however, jumped a little, startled by the clang of the chopsticks to Masamune's plate. He stared at the chopsticks and raised his eyebrow, curious as to why Masamune would drop them. Despite his curiosity, he kept his eyes locked on his plate of food. Masamune continued to stare at Yukimura marveling over the fact that he was indeed affected by Masamune as much as Masamune was affected by him. He soon started trying to see those brown eyes he had wanted to see again since that first night they met but was disappointed when he saw they were hidden under Yukimura's bangs.

Eventually, Yukimura swallowed his pride a bit to look Masamune in the eyes. His eyes widened a little at the obvious blush on the man's face and he couldn't help but stare. It was rather uncharacteristic of him, and despite his better judgment Yukimura smiled. Masamune started a bit at the smile and was pulled back to his senses. He cleared his throat and stood with his plate. "Well, I'm not really that hungry anymore so I'm gonna go ahead and clean this up. I'll be right back," he mumbled quickly scrambling away but trying to look calm as he did so. He hurried to run water over his dishes, almost throwing them into the sink. He turned on the faucet and took a deep breath as the water started flowing. He grabbed onto the edge of the sink to help balance himself. He gave a short chuckle at himself. He could almost call himself crazy for being thrown into a panic like that. Just one smile caused him to get so worked up. Masamune ran a hand through his hair and sighed. He had found himself a most worthy rival indeed.

Yukimura frowned at the panicked state Masamune had left in. "Guess I did something wrong..." he muttered to himself and readjusted his posture. He brought a knee up to his chest and rested his head on it, sighing solemnly as he ate. He was a little over half done and he wasn't one to waste food given to him, but he couldn't help but lose his appetite a bit. He bit his tongue gently as his head clouded over with thoughts on his rivalry with Masamune, and whether or not he was fit enough to be called a rival to him. He felt weak; not helpless, but weaker than Masamune. Yukimura put his chopsticks down and pressed his forehead to his knee closing his eyes. He felt a sudden knot coil up in his stomach with a feeling akin to what he felt the night they met. It was the feeling of a challenge rising up between them, a spark to start a huge fire in the depths of a forest. He loved that fighting spirit they seemed to have with each other, but something else tugged in the back of his mind. He just wished he knew what it was.

Once Masamune had calmed down, he calmly made his way back to Yukimura only to be shocked at the boy's sudden change in attitude. He laughed and ruffled Yukimura's hair, once again relishing in how soft the mass of brown was. "What's wrong with you? You look like your dog just died or something," Masamune teased sitting back in his chair lazily. He set his elbow on the table and rested his cheek on his hand, taking in Yukimura carefully. The boy seemed bothered by something, and Masamune was determined to find out what.

Yukimura squeaked again, and this time he glared at Masamune for causing it, "Why do you do that?" he muttered and ran a hand through his hair, "And I'm not sure what's wrong with me, that's why I'm trying to think about it." He sighed and hugged his knee to him, resting his head on it again and looked at Masamune, studying him almost.

Masamune stared blankly at Yukimura. "Why do I do what? Ruffle your hair?" he asked. He stared off into space to think carefully of an answer before looking back at Yukimura seriously. "To mess with you I guess."

Yukimura laughed, "Am I really that fun to mess with?" He raised an eyebrow questioningly.

Masamune stared at Yukimura in disbelief. He deadpanned at the boy before smacking his forehead. "Of course you are, dummy. If you weren't, then you wouldn't exactly be a good rival then would you?" Masamune removed his hand from his face to look at Yukimura and allow him full insight the raw emotions swelling inside him.

"W-What?" he stuttered, unable to say anything intelligent. A good rival? To Date Masamune? "You... What?" The bubbling feeling rose within him again, but he wasn't sure why. He just knew that if what Masamune said was true then that'd be a huge load off of his shoulders... He stared at Masamune for a while, not sure whether to believe that look in his eye. He blushed a little but ignored it for the sake of trying to get everything on his mind straight.

"I see you as my rival. You got a problem with that?" Masamune asked with annoyance, referring to Yukimura's stuttering and shocked mannerisms. He knew that neither of them had really claimed each other as their rivals, but Masamune liked to think that they both understood that. The fact that Yukimura was so shocked gave Masamune the idea the maybe Yukimura hadn't been thinking like he had and that pissed Masamune off for some reason. "Do you not see me as a worthy rival?"

"Of course I do! I just... didn't think you thought of me the same way. That's what has been bothering me." Yukimura said calmly, though at a closer look it was obvious he was shaking. Unable to really contain himself any longer, he laughed and a smirk graced his features, "But now that that's been sorted out I feel a thousand times better. Never have I come across someone who made me question if I was a worthy enough opponent to them until you, Masamune-dono, and I'm honored to be considered your rival." The fire within him finally returned, and this time it looked as though it left a permanent burn on the brunette's soul. His determination radiated from him, but in his eyes it shined the brightest. For the second time in his life he felt inspired by Masamune, and this time he knew it was no accident.

Masamune smirked at Yukimura's eagerness feeling lit up himself. He felt a surge of energy rush through him leaving a tingling sensation behind. Masamune knew that there was only someone worthy of being his rival could cause this reactions. Never before had he been so thankful to be shown up in a dance battle. Just as Masamune opened his mouth to taunt Yukimura, Keiji bustled over to the table shoving a bucket full of cleaning supplies in between them.

"Since you two obviously have enough energy after eating, why don't you go clean upstairs? I want it sparkling clean when I see you next. Think of it as a punishment since you two skipped out on cleaning down here early," Keiji said, sternly glancing at the two. Masamune grimaced before glancing up at Keiji. "Yes, Date-san. You have to do this," Keiji said almost reading Masamune's mind. Masamune glared at Keiji before resentfully grabbing the bucket.

"Let's go, Yukimura. We might as well start," Masamune grumbled making his way upstairs.

Yukimura quickly followed after him into the room upstairs. He excitedly ran to the center of the dance floor, skidding to a stop as he marveled his second home in its uncrowded entirety. "It's a lot bigger than I remember it being," Yukimura observed, his face falling to a frown at the thought of the workload. He glanced around and examined the dance floor itself. It was scuffed up in some areas and rather than the panels flashing different colors like he was used to, they were foggy and white. He looked around the room, finding it easier to see now that the lights were on. His eyes then fell on Date, who stood in the doorway staring at him. "Is there a reason why you're just standing there, Masamune-dono?"

"No particular reason. You just look like you're enjoying yourself, seeing this place without all the flashing lights and stuff," Masamune said, making his way to the center of the dance floor where Yukimura stood. He glanced down and whistled. "Man, that's a lot of scuff marks. Guess we better get started." Masamune stepped on a mark and began twisting his foot. He continued doing that all the way down the mark until it disappeared completely.

"How did you do that?! I didn't know you could get rid of scuff marks!" Yukimura exclaimed in awe. Masamune briefly glanced up at him before returning his gaze to his work on the floor.

"Well, this is actually an old trick that Kojuro showed me when I was younger. Back when I first got into dancing I would leave scuff marks all over the floor and he'd get so mad at me. He eventually just showed me how to get rid of them so he wouldn't have to all the time. Watch," Masamune said, making another scuff mark disappear. Yukimura observed carefully before attempting it himself. When he pulled his foot away, the mark was gone.

"I did it!" Yukimura exclaimed.

"Great, now I won't be the only one to get rid of them," Masamune said.

"You seem to be pretty good at housekeeping, Masamune-dono. Why is that? I kinda pictured you as the lazy type who couldn't cook or clean," Yukimura said, removing more scuff marks.

"Ah, well, I can't cook, so you're right there. I'm pretty good at cleaning, but it's not like I wanna be. If I had the choice I wouldn't clean at all, but Kojuro often makes me clean the house as punishment for something. If it's not that then I have to help him out in the fields," Masamune explained. Yukimura gave a hum, imagining Masamune cleaning the house with a stern Kojuro keeping watch behind him. He gave a small chuckle at the image before continuing back to his work. Masamune paused briefly to question Yukimura's laughter, but stopped and continued working.

It was a while later until the two had finished cleaning. They were both sore from the demanding jobs like sweeping, mopping, cleaning the tables and windows, and even cleaning the frosted glass panel on the door. Yukimura grabbed two bottles of water from the mini fridge and sat with Masamune at a booth towards the wall. He set one bottle down on the table while drinking from the other. Masamune thankfully drank from his bottle before setting it down on the table. He took in Yukimura carefully. "So where'd you learn to freestep? As we both know that style of dance isn't really popular here so how'd you come to learn it?"

Yukimura pondered the question, "Well I learned how to c-walk first, which I learned from Sasuke. He's the only person I've seen to c-walk and I found it interesting. After that, he introduced me to freestepping, but he wasn't necessarily one to dance in that style. I was still really interested in the style though so I taught myself through the internet, watching other people dance it..." He stared off into space, reminiscing of the times he would try to copy the videos he watched. He smiled, "After a while I got Sasuke into it and he practices with me sometimes. How about you? Where did you learn how to freestep?"

Masamune leaned back in his seat and folded his arms over his chest. He smiled as he remembered how he learned it. "Well, I hang around Motochika a lot and he likes to help out Mitsunari. They do jumpstyle which contribute to freestepping. I had wanted to do something like that since I admired the work that goes into that. I'm just not suited for jumpstyle so I did research on what I could do. Then I found freestepping and well, I've just been training myself in secret really. Our last battle was the first time I'd shown it to anyone, even Motochika," Masamune explained. He smiled fondly at remembered the shock on his face. "Be proud you brought it out of me."

Upon hearing this, Yukimura blushed faintly. He looked away from Masamune to hide it, though he knew the man could read him like a book. "I...I'm glad I was able to do that for you." He managed to say. He rubbed the back of his neck nervously, not used to accepting praise from people. Master Shingen rarely gave out his praise, but when he did Yukimura accepted it graciously. When it came to other people, however, it was... very different, "Sasuke's the only person I've c-walked and freestepped with, but nowadays he doesn't really see me practice so... I guess I could say the same to you."

"We'll just have to fix that then. Besides, I'm glad you practice dancing because of me, but there's a way to do that without skipping meals. Maybe something can be arranged to help you..." Masamune trailed off in thought preparing for how this would happen. He wouldn't mind having more encounters with his rival, but he couldn't spend too much with him. He did want to eventually surpass the brunette after all.

Yukimura blinked, then after registering what Masamune said he shook his head furiously and waved his hands in protest, "No no no, it's completely fine! I don't want you wasting energy on me just because I'm foolish and forget things. It's completely unnecessary!" As much as he said this, he really did hate skipping meals so often. He loved to eat and skipping meals was a dumb habit for him to do, he had to admit.

Masamune laughed softly before smirking at Yukimura. "What made you think I would be your babysitter? I'm not gonna hang around you all the time. I was more thinking that I might send Motochika over and you can dance with him for a bit. He'll pick things up easily," Masamune said. That and he can help scout for me, Masamune thought carefully. Having Motochika dance with Yukimura often would not only help Yukimura, but it would help Masamune when Motochika came back with information on Yukimura's new dancing abilities.

Yukimura frowned a little, almost hurt that Masamune seemed to want to avoid him as much as possible without breaking their friendrivalship. He understood why, but still, it hurt to some extent. "Well I guess I wouldn't mind hanging out with Motochika-dono more often. He's a very likeable person and nice to be around. And he bought me ramen as thanks for helping solve issues between him and Ieyasu-dono." He smiled fondly at the memories and all the laughs they had during dinner. Soon enough he forgot why he frowned and was instead laughing at things he and Motochika and the others exchanged that night.

Masamune somehow immediately became pissed off that Yukimura wanted to spend more time with Motochika and how he smiled so fondly as if he were remembering some sort of inside joke between them. He felt as if Yukimura thought all of the bonding they had done today was worthless. He wasn't going to allow Yukimura to hang out with Motochika so happily that easily. "You know what, I just remembered that Motochika likes to go parade around town with that motorcycle gang of his. They're a pretty rough and scary bunch, so I'm not gonna try to take their leader away from them in case I get beat up. I'll just come instead. Where do you wanna meet?" Masamune asked, glaring at Yukimura out of spite. He knew he shouldn't let his emotions get the better of him, but it was something he just couldn't help when it came to Yukimura. Something about this kid made him feel a sense of possessiveness, like he couldn't share Yukimura with anybody. He shifted slightly in his seat at these thoughts, feeling a little uncomfortable with himself. '_I blame my lack of close friends…_' Masamune decided, ending his rambling mind.

Yukimura pouted slightly, "Masamune-dono, I don't think it's very good to be indecisive..." He sighed and thought about it for a moment, then pressed a fist to his open palm after coming to a conclusion, "We can meet at the boxing ring Oyakata-sama owns. That's where I practice all the time, and it's very roomy." He smiled, then leaned in closer to Masamune and raised an eyebrow, "So is this your final decision or are you gonna change it again, hm?"

Masamune smirked and leaned closer to Yukimura resting his elbows on the table between them. "I'm not changing my mind. You can't shake me off that easily_. Count me in_," Masamune said, his voice flowing with his confidence. He stared right into Yukimura's eyes to let him know just how serious he was.

Though his gaze didn't falter, Yukimura couldn't help but shiver a little under Masamune's cold stare, "I was just making sure, seeing as how you were the one who changed your mind in the first place. I thought you'd have offered to spend more time with me right off the bat, with the way you word things..." Masamune immediately started feeling guilty about offering Motochika to go dance with Yukimura instead of saying he would go. He didn't think it would offend the other boy this much. Yukimura propped an elbow on the table, leaning his head on his hand as he did so, "Speaking of words, where did you learn English?" The brunette never took his eyes off of Masamune's. They were a very interesting shade of blue, one he didn't normally see, so he took it upon himself to take in as much as possible.

Masamune simply shook his head clear of his guilt in order to answer Yukimura's question. "I guess you could say I was a good English student. Kojuro actually studied abroad in America to learn more about agriculture and horticulture. When he started taking care of me he decided to teach me. I was just interested by the language so I learned it easily..." Masamune soon found himself too distracted to finish the rest of his story or at least explain with better details. Instead, he found himself too busy staring at Yukimura's eyes. They looked at him with such passion and fervor that it made the brown eyes dance abnormally so yet it was so enthralling to him. He could feel them pull him in closer to Yukimura the longer he stared yet he didn't want to look away.

Yukimura could sense Masamune leaning in closer but he didn't have it in him to pull away. He swallowed nervously, his throat suddenly becoming dry. "Maybe someday you could teach me. It's kind of frustrating when you say things I don't understand." He said this quietly, fearing if he spoke in his usual volume that Masamune would be far away from him, this moment would be nonexistent, and they'd be up in each other's faces in a different way; fighting for dominance on the dance floor. He liked these moments of peace, because at least he knew he was enjoying himself rather than sitting at home bored or worrying about missing some unidentified talent.

"Maybe I will. That doesn't sound like a bad idea," Masamune said, his voice barely above a whisper. He didn't know why or how he was being so quiet or where this flow of conversation was going. All he knew was that he was enjoying it, and he didn't want it to end. He could feel himself slowly inching closer to Yukimura, but he didn't want to stop it. He found himself absolutely powerless in this situation, blown away by Yukimura's gaze.

As Masamune inched closer and closer to close the distance between them, Yukimura's eyes tempted themselves closed. His heart pounded in his chest, making his very body ache for some reason unknown to him. His neck and cheeks were burning but upon feeling Masamune's slow breathing against his lips, a cold chill ran down his spine and eased his senses while driving him crazy at the same time. Time moved too slowly for Yukimura, and in a desperate attempt to fill the gap...

"Hey, Danna!" Sasuke called as he bounded up the steps and opened the door to the dance floor, "I've been calling your phone asking when you were coming back, but you ne-" His sentence got caught in his throat as he set his eyes on Yukimura, whom he thought of as a little brother, leaning dangerously close on the man who both got him back on his feet and ultimately threw his peaceful life into chaos, "D-DANNA?!"

Masamune pulled away from Yukimura quickly coming to his senses due to the yell. Yukimura's face exploded into a deep shade of red, ears and neck burning as well. For some reason unknown to Masamune though, he became very irritated and disappointed. He leaned back in his seat with his arms folded across his chest as he glared at Sasuke. "Who let the monkey in?" Date asked scornfully. Yukimura turned in his seat to face Sasuke, who came storming in angrily. His green eyes weren't focused on him though, but rather the man sitting across from him

"S-Sasuke what are you doing here?!" Yukimura asked with a horribly shaky voice. Sasuke glanced at Yukimura, then back to Masamune, eyes practically set to kill. Once he had his fill of the silent treatment, he looked back at Yukimura.

"I was calling to ask when you'd be returning, but you never answered so I came here to ask in person..." He raised an eyebrow and crossed his arms, "It doesn't look like you were planning on coming home any time soon though, nor did it look like you were doing much work for Maeda-sama."

"Clown boy wouldn't let us help him anymore since we kinda drowned this place in paint. He sent us up here where we cleaned, and now we're taking a break," Masamune paused and stood up glaring Sasuke straight in the face. "Is there something wrong with those turn of events... Monkey boy?"

"Maybe there is, One-Eyed Dragon..." Sasuke said, unwavering under Masamune's threatening glare. "You've gotten pretty close to Danna... Dangerously close." He raised an eyebrow and a smug grin reached his lips. Yukimura sat quietly and watched them both, not wanting either of them to hurt the other.

"These things happen when you're given the chance to talk. I quite enjoy spending time with Yukimura so what are you gonna do about it?" Masamune asked stepping closer with confidence knowing full well there wasn't much Sasuke could do about it without things becoming physical. He knew he wouldn't get hit while Yukimura was in the room, so he decided to test out his luck.

"M-Masamune-dono, calm down, Sasuke doesn't mean any harm," Yukimura said, standing up and doing his best to separate the two. "And Sasuke, Masamune-dono means no harm. I've gotten to know him and he's a pleasant person to be around if you get past the rough exterior." Sasuke frowned as he looked back at Yukimura. He stared at him for a minute, a little hurt that his childhood friend found better company in this good-for-nothing delinquent. He glared back at Masamune for a moment, and then sighed, "Fine, fine... But I'm keeping a close eye on you."

Yukimura laughed, thinking nothing of the threat, "I'll probably be home at around dinner time if that's okay. I won't be out later than that, I promise." He reassured his friend. Sasuke nodded, then turned and left. Yukimura waited until the door shut completely and silence filled the room again before slumping his shoulders with a sigh, "Sorry Masamune-dono..."

"What are you sorry for, Yukimura? As far as I'm concerned he's the one who should be apologizing," Masamune said without thinking. He then saw Yukimura gear up defend his friend and Masamune stopped him. "But, I won't hold it against him. He does have a reason to not like me because of what happened the other night. I was a bit harsh to you both back then... Sorry for that." The apology was uttered as a low mumble, almost inaudible. It was so low that Masamune could barely hear it himself, then again he didn't believe that the apology was coming from himself either.

Yukimura tilted his head and leaned closer to Masamune, "What was that last part?" He had a good feeling of what he said, but he wanted to hear him say it clearer just to make sure. Even though he only got to know Masamune today, he quickly learned he wasn't the kind of person to apologize easily.

Masamune growled and blushed slightly turning to Yukimura with an aggravated glare. "I said I'm sorry about the other night!" Masamune shouted defensively. He wasn't even sure why he was apologizing. Sure he had gotten carried away, but things are usually resolved afterwards without an apology so apologizing to Yukimura now was an alien feeling to him.

A smug grin made its way across his lips and Yukimura laughed, "Apology accepted..." He looked up at Masamune and noticed him blushing and he couldn't help but smirk a little bit. Blushes didn't really suit Masamune, but it was nice catching them when he did. It made Yukimura feel like he bested him in some way.

"Tch, like I care," Masamune said turning away from Yukimura to hide the embarrassment written all over his face. Masamune desperately searched for a new topic of conversation and relaxed when he found one. "That friend of yours sure is overprotective. Are you sure he's not your true caretaker?" Masamune asked hoping to start a new conversation.

As Yukimura took his previous seat, "I'm sure. Sasuke is like an older brother to me, we've known each other since childhood. I guess through that he grew protective of me in some cases." He played with his water bottle on the table and sighed, "What about you? What's your caretaker like?"

"He's a pain in the ass," Masamune said bluntly plopping back into his seat. He then scratched his head as he thought further about his relationship with Kojuro. "I guess I only say that though because he keeps me out of trouble. He's not my father, but he practically raised me. He knows me better than anyone else so I can never get away with anything. It's like he KNOWS when I'm gonna do something bad. I'm thankful to him though. Without him I know I would have gotten myself beat up on several occasions." Date then laughed recalling some memories.

Yukimura smiled, "Well then I'm grateful to him too, because otherwise I probably wouldn't have been able to meet you." He absentmindedly played with the water bottle, rolling it around on the table as he spoke.

Masamune blinked at Yukimura shocked at his declaration. He smiled and carefully chose his next words. "Well, of course you would've met me. I just wouldn't be as handsome as I am now," Masamune teased, smirking deviously while his eyes gave off a smoldering stare to Yukimura.

Yukimura smacked the bottle off the table as he fumbled, caught off guard by Masamune's words. He glared at him with a small blush, catching on to his teasing but... still not quite used to how to handle it, "... I don't... know how to respond... to that." he mumbled quietly, still glaring.

Masamune smirked at Yukimura. "Then don't say anything. You know I'm right after all," Masamune said laughing once more.

Yukimura rolled his eyes and turned away from Masamune, hiding his blush, "What if I don't think you're as handsome as you say you are? Then you'd be wrong."

Masamune tried not to let it show how hurt he was by that statement by shrugging it off. He then lazily leaned on the table. "I guess to that I'd have to say to each their own, right? Beauty is in the eye of the beholder and what not," Masamune rambled quoting all sorts of words of wisdom.

Yukimura laughed and listened to him ramble, finding it soothing. Usually he was the one to ramble on and on about pointless things, but with Masamune it was different. He was the listener and Masamune was the speaker. He studied Masamune some more, taking some bizarre interest in his features. It was then that he realized he overlooked a very big detail of Masamune's, but he didn't notice until now, "Masamune-dono..." he started, but immediately regretted it as he didn't know how to ask without sounding offensive.

Masamune immediately stopped rambling thankful for the distraction. He glanced at Yukimura expecting him to continue speaking. When he didn't, Masamune decided to speak up. "What is it? You were about to say somethin' right? _Speak up_," Masamune commanded.

"W-Well... I wanted to ask about your eye patch..." he started, and then straightened in his seat, clapping his hands together and bowing his head, "Sorry if it's a touchy topic, I just... I didn't really notice it until just now and I got curious..!"

Masamune sat still for a while debating whether he should tell his story or not. After enough debating he decided to just suck it up. "Well, you see, as a child I had gotten some sort of illness like small pox but it was a really severe case. I had to get rid of some organ to live, but my mom wouldn't let the doctors perform open surgery so they took my eye. It's not as bad as I thought it would be, and it's actually pretty fun wearing this eye patch. Sometimes, things just work out better than you had expected," Masamune explained putting hand to his eye patch.

Yukimura listened to his story and frowned, "Your mother didn't sound like a very pleasant woman..." He noted, then dropped the subject altogether as he saw Masamune's face change. He didn't like that expression, because it looked... pained. Acting on impulse, Yukimura jumped up from his seat and grabbed Masamune's hand, "Let's go for a walk?" He found himself saying.

"Wait, what? A walk? Now?" Masamune asked trying to protest, but he gave up as soon as he saw Yukimura's smile. Instead he just let himself be pulled away by him, relishing in how warm Yukimura's hand was. In order to seem like he wasn't completely pacified he continued putting out verbal protests but otherwise showed no signs of a struggle.

"Yes now, I'm bored anyway and we can talk on the way!" Yukimura laughed and countered each protest effortlessly. He could tell Masamune wasn't really trying to say no, he was just too stubborn to say yes. That fact alone made Yukimura happy, knowing that Masamune wouldn't deny his request. He was glad to have gotten to know Masamune in such a short time so now he wanted to make him feel as happy as he felt now. As they battled each other with protests and counter-protests down the stairs, Yukimura smiled warmly to himself as he felt Masamune – a person he learned so much about and connected with in so many ways in such a short amount of time – take hold of his hand. With a little hesitance, the one-eyed teen squeezed tighter.

Yukimura didn't have to turn around to see it, but Masamune smiled to himself. He didn't feel disconnected, nor did he feel like something was missing in his life anymore. In the span of a few days, Masamune found a rival and someone he connected to while still being polar opposites of each other.

He found Sanada Yukimura, his closest friend.


	7. More Than You Know

**Chapter Seven: More Than You Know**

* * *

Keiji, Ieyasu, and Motochika all stopped working to marvel at the sight before them. Down the stairs came Yukimura hand in hand with Masamune. It was an unbelievable sight to them. Keiji was the first to recover from their shock. He grinned madly and gave a small chuckle. "Hey, if it isn't the two love bi-"

"Hey, guys! How did the cleaning go?" Ieyasu asked as he sharply jabbed Keiji in the ribs, a huge smile plastered on his face as if nothing was wrong. Motochika snorted into laughter.

Masamune had caught Keiji's remark and refused to blush. He acted as if he hadn't heard the comment at all and kept his hand in Yukimura's, even giving it a slight squeeze. Yukimura glanced down at Masamune's hand in his when he felt him squeeze it tighter. A smile crept upon his face then, though he wasn't sure why the contact made him so happy. He was brought out of his happy thoughts when he heard Keiji and Masamune arguing. Masamune gave a vicious smile to the three teens and said, "Though it was a big room, there wasn't much to clean." Masamune looked over the mural. He smirked as he saw an opportunity for revenge. "Oh, wow. That's looking pretty cool, but I think you're missing something, Keiji. You should use a color like the one on my hat." Masamune pointed to his hat using the middle finger of his free hand. Keiji frowned and turned back to the mural. Masamune let his hand fall to his side and smirked at Keiji once again. "I thought so, circus clown."

With a pout, Yukimura elbowed Masamune in the side, "Do you always have to start fights with people?" He glared disapprovingly, though he had to admit, Keiji was overbearing sometimes and he has been tempted to give him a good punch in the face as well. Still, Yukimura fought with good intentions while Masamune... didn't seem to think on the same plane he did.

"Me start the fight? As far as I'm concerned he started the fight!" Masamune growled point accusingly at Keiji. Keiji held up his hands in defense.

"Hey, now! I only said that you two are-"

"Shut up! Don't say it again!" Masamune shouted finally allowing a blush to creep on his face. He glared at Keiji and pulled Yukimura away. "Are we gonna go on that walk or not?"

"S-Say what-" Yukimura bit his lip as he cut himself off, seeing Masamune seemed a little too flustered to speak. He looked at Ieyasu and the others and saw they were laughing at something, and he wanted to know what it was, "But... what did he say?"

"I was saying how you-"

"You two should get going on that walk or it'll get too dark out to enjoy anything!" Motochika interjected this time, pitying his friend as he had never seen him blush so hard in all the time he's known him. He smirked at Masamune, and then watched as he practically dragged Yukimura out of the bar. Once the doors closed behind them, he and Ieyasu glared at Keiji.

"You do know that there's a time and place for certain things, right?" Ieyasu sighed, shaking his head at the artist.

"What? I was only having fun. Besides, love is a beautiful thing!" Keiji beamed. Motochika just about screamed while Ieyasu laughed the matter away and returned to cleaning the paint supplies.

Masamune quickly pulled Yukimura away from the bar and into the park across the street. He walked at a brisk pace to escape Keiji's torment, but once they were safe in the park, he slowed down his pace and actually started to take in their surroundings. Then, he remembered that Yukimura was the one to suggest the walk. "Oh, um... Is this place good for the walk?" Masamune asked slapping himself for how nervous he sounded.

Yukimura blinked and looked at Masamune, then doubled over in laughter as he let go of his hand to clutch his sides. Masamune frowned and fought the urge to leave the kid, not sure if he was offended by the laughter yet.

"Sorry, Masamune-dono, I just..." He paused to let out the stray chuckles, "I just find it entertaining how flustered you get and how much you try to hide it." He smiled, but it easily changed into a smirk, "Maybe it's payback for your relentless teasing, just to show you that I can do the same to you!"

This time it was Masamune's turn to laugh. While he didn't kneel over in laughter, he did wipe away a few tears. He was still chuckling when he chose to speak next. "You? Tease me? That'll never happen. I'd love to see the day that you're able to tease me," Masamune laughed once more as if it were funnier a second time.

Yukimura pouted, cutting his eyes at the man, "You say I can't tease you yet you blush quite often when you're around me." He stated flatly and crossed his arms.

Masamune stopped laughing immediately when he heard that and panicked as to how to respond. The longer he didn't answer though, the more he felt compelled to because of Yukimura's pout. "W-Well... This and that are two different things..." Masamune mumbled not quite sure where he was going with this.

Yukimura smirked and raised an eyebrow, "Oh really? Do explain, Masamune-dono." The smirk on Yukimura's face gave away how much he was enjoying these turn of events. Masamune only served him further enjoyment as he started mumbling about, unable to come up with a good response. Every sentence that was cut short only embarrassed Masamune further. Yukimura was about to change the subject when Masamune finally gave a heavy sigh signaling the surrender of his pride.

"When I blush around you, it's not like you're teasing me or doing anything special, you know? It's just... you."

Yukimura's face instantly sobered and even grew very warm. His heart fluttered and his throat closed up, but outwardly, he remained very calm. "I... don't understand." The brunette smiled sheepishly and saw this was only making his friend even more nervous... Oh, the woes of a heart that shows much mercy, "F-Forget it, it's fine, let's just keep walking, hm?" He wanted to reach for his hand again, but stopped himself, unsure of why he wanted any of those kinds of things from Masamune in the first place. Masamune saw Yukimura reach for his hand and he wanted him to grab it. Though when Yukimura shoved his hand in his pocket, Masamune felt his heart fall for some unknown reason. He had half a mind to just seize Yukimura's hand from his pocket and hold it, but he didn't want things to get more awkward. He pulled his hand away from Yukimura's side and shoved it into his pocket as well.

Without another word, the two continued walking down the path. Yukimura walked with a childish bounce to his walk taking in everything and anything while Masamune walked with large awkward steps barely glancing around, just enjoying the soft sounds around them. A contented smile stayed on both their faces, but then Yukimura saw _it_. He stopped walking, big red-brown eyes set straight ahead of them as he deeply inhaled the sweet, sweet smell of a treat he knew all too well.

"Dango!" He exclaimed, now running in the direction of the little dango shop.

"Dango? He's running for dango?" Masamune asked himself before running to catch up with Yukimura who was already only a few feet from the shop. Seeing the distance between them he then started to run faster hoping to catch up before he lost his companion.

Yukimura skid to a stop as he took in the scent of the delicious treat. He sighed, then looked at Masamune who just now caught up to him, "Oh, sorry... Dango is my favorite, and it's been a while since I've had it." Yukimura scratched the side of his cheek and waited in line. After a little thought, he looked up at his companion, "Want some? I'll pay." He offered.

"Huh? You've gotta be kidding me," Masamune breathed out, still trying to catch his breath. He glared the menu before sighing. "Fine I'll get some. It won't kill me after all."

Yukimura quirked an eyebrow, "What's that supposed to mean? If you don't like it, I'm not forcing you to get any, I just offered..."

"No, that's not what I meant. I just don't eat sweets too often. I want some," Masamune insisted trying to not offend the other once again.

"Hmm... Mmkay." Yukimura dug his wallet out of his pocket and ordered some dango for him and Masamune. After paying and receiving the food, he found a bench nearby and led his friend to it, already grabbing a stick of dango to eat. "Yessss, it's been forever since I've had this!" He quickly bit into the first ball, but flinched, "Ow, it's hot!" He pouted and waited for it to cool down, but he obviously wasn't very patient as he just stared the dango stick down intensely as if he were speaking to it in his head.

Masamune laughed at Yukimura's impatience. He really was such a child sometimes that it amazed him. "Why don't we talk to each other while waiting for our dango to cool down?" he offered to distract Yukimura from his impatient waiting.

The brunette pouted as he stared at his dango, but put it back down on the plate and set it aside, "Alright, then what would you like to talk about?" He relaxed on the bench and looked up at the other with curious eyes.

Masamune thought for a few seconds before deciding something to talk about. "You ran pretty fast to get here. Is it safe to assume that dango is your favorite food or is it just all sweets?" he asked genuinely curious.

"I like sweet foods, yes, but dango is definitely my favorite! I could eat it forever..." Yukimura said almost dreamily. He groaned and glared at the steaming dango sticks, "Why'd you wanna talk about the food if I'm already waiting for them to cool down?!" He whined, though it was all in good fun.

"Not sure. It was just something that was on my mind till just now. If you don't like the way I run a conversation then you run it," Masmaune challenged, grinning madly.

"..." The brunette glared at the other intensely, trying to search for something to talk about, "...Hmm..." He fidgeted a little as he thought harder, and then sighed as he gave up, "Okay, I'm too curious. What's your favorite food?"

"My favorite food? It's probably gotta be tonjiro. Yeah, it's most definitely tonjiro, especially the tonjiro that Kojuro makes. It's the best thing ever," Masamune sighed dreamily, recreating the tonjiro to taste in his imagination.

"It sounds like it tastes good." Yukimura laughed at Masamune's reaction, "...Can I come over some time and try it?"

Masamune thought about it for a second before realizing he really didn't have to think about it at all. He really did want Yukimura to come over to eat dinner with him. "Hmm, I think I can arrange that. I'll have to ask Kojuro when he's gonna make it again," he said thinking about the last time he had eaten tonjiro.

Hearing this, Yukimura smiled, "Great! Hmm... I can't think of anything but food, so are there any foreign foods you've had or wanted to try?"

"I've had some American macaroni and cheese. That was pretty good. Their pasta over there isn't bad," Masamune said with a shrug.

Yukimura pouted, "No fair, I want American food... It looks really good." He sighed and slouched in his seat, "I also wouldn't mind trying Italian foods. They look pretty good too." He stared up at the clouds overhead as he spoke, staring at nothing in particular.

"Well maybe we can go to America together one day. I know Kojuro leaves for America every now and then so it shouldn't be so hard to go, right?" Masamune offered with a shrug. He really wasn't sure of anything, but he didn't want to see Yukimura look so down about never eating American food.

"What? That's crazy!" Yukimura laughed a little at the idea, "I've never imagined myself going to America. I'm not very good at English anyway." He paused for a moment, and then looked at Masamune, "If we do end up going, you better make sure to teach me! You promised earlier..." A small blush made itself visible, as he only half remembered that conversation and remembered more of the desire to...

Yukimura flailed and sat up straight, his own thoughts torturing him.

Masamune raised an eyebrow at Yukimura's sudden jumpiness. "Hey, are you okay? You're kind of... spazzing out..." Masamune trailed off taking notice of Yukimura's state. His face flushed and his red-brown eyes flitting to and fro everywhere. He was starting to worry about the kid, more than he thought he should.

Yukimura laughed uneasily, "I'm fine! Just kinda freaked myself out there for a second..." He beamed a wide smile, hoping he wouldn't question him any further.

Masamune didn't exactly believe Yukimura when he said he was fine, but he took the hint and dropped the subject. He shrugged and gave Yukimura a lazy smile. "I did agree to teach you English, and I'll still do it too, if you want me to," Masamune said reaching out for a dango. He took a bite and smiled. "It's cooled off now so you can eat if you'd like."

Quicker than Masamune could have even noticed, Yukimura grabbed his dango stick and bit into it happily. He sighed contently and relaxed into his seat, "Dango gets better and better every time I eat it." He mused, already halfway done. Masamune sat and watched Yukimura happily scarf down his dango while enjoying his at a much slower pace.

Once Yukimura finished, he set the stick down on the plate and stared at the scenery before them. Even though he calmed himself down considerably, he still couldn't help but wrap his mind around what happened before Sasuke interrupted them... What if Sasuke hadn't interrupted them? What would that make Masamune to him, and would it affect their rivalry? A bunch of questions buzzed around in his head and soon enough he developed a slight headache. 'Idiot, you dodged the main question!' he thought to himself as he ran a hand through his hair, brows furrowed in thought.

Masamune noticed Yukimura's frustrations and slowly put down his stick though he was in mid bite. He raised an eyebrow at Yukimura. "Alright, I'm not gonna let you talk your way out of it this time. What's bugging you so badly? And don't say it's nothing 'cause I can tell this is eating you up." Masamune leaned back in his seat and folded his arms across his chest. He was determined to find out what was bothering Yukimura this time. He wasn't going to accept any lie or let it be brushed off. He was genuinely concerned now.

Yukimura's face reddened from the sudden pressure and he glared, "No, I'm not telling you." He said quickly. No way was he gonna embarrass himself like that.

Masamune growled and leaned towards Yukimura using the bench to steady himself. "Yukimura, tell me what's bothering you. You're starting to really worry me, and I'm not taking no for answer this time," Masamune demanded though it sounded more like a plea.

As he backed away from Masamune, he let his words sink in for a moment. He must have been serious, because it sounded less like a threat and more like genuine concern. His tense shoulders relaxed a bit, but he still glared at his friend, "You're gonna laugh at me though." Yukimura feebly protested.

"I'm not gonna laugh. If I do then I give you permission to hit me or whatever punishment you wanna do. I'm not kidding when I say I'm worried about you," Masamune said trying to convince Yukimura to open up to him.

Yukimura narrowed his gaze as he searched Masamune's eye for any sign of a lie. When he finally decided to give up, he drew in a deep breath and averted his gaze, "Have you k-kissed anyone before?"

Masamune blushed deeply, the red covering even his ears. He looked away from Yukimura and rubbed the back of his neck. "Well, um, you see. Funny thing is, it's a long story, and I'll probably just bore you with the details. It was just such a long and tedious event that I… I mean I just... I... No," Masamune finally admitted refusing to look Yukimura in the eyes.

Yukimura deadpanned, returning his eyes to Masamune. He noticed the blush and the averted gaze and knew he was telling the truth, "What? R-Really?!" He paused to allow himself to regain his composure, afraid that his friend will take his freak-out as an insult, "W-Well... Wait a minute, how is it a long story if you haven't...?" Yukimura pondered his own question, then snapped his fingers, "Were you rejected by a girl?" He tilted his head curiously as he took a stab at guessing. He wouldn't admit it but he found it really surprising that someone as... attractive as Date Masamune never kissed anybody.

Masamune stammered a bit more before regaining his composure. "Well, um, yes and no... I've asked girls out before, but they all turned me down. I've been told I'm rude and intimidating, but I've gotten so used to it I didn't think it was that much of a problem," He laughed bitterly, then sighed, " I only said it was a long story because I was gonna lie to you, but then I just changed my mind. There's no long story just... I've never kissed anyone before," Masamune explained glancing quickly at Yukimura before averting his gaze again.

Yukimura frowned, "To be honest, I don't see how they could reject you..." he thought out loud, not even realizing he did.

Masamune looked back at Yukimura shocked at what he had just said. "What? What do you mean by that?"

"Huh? Oh... What I mean is; you... are..." Yukimura rubbed the back of his neck as he tried to carefully choose his words. As an awkward child, conversations proved to be quite a challenge, but he didn't want to let it get in the way of a friendship with Masamune. Aside from Sasuke and a select few other people, he seemed to be one of the only people he felt remotely comfortable around, "You do have a rough outer appearance, one that may intimidate people or make people angry... But in all honesty you're a very kind person and even though you say things to mock or tease people, I think you do it to see them smile, or react to your existence." To prove his point, the boy smiled reassuringly, "Not to mention, I… have noticed you're very picky with people you let become close to you, but you treat those few people very well. A quality like that is endearing, to say the least."

Masamune felt something bubble inside of him and he smiled nervously. Having Yukimura compliment him like this was such an uplifting feeling that he didn't want it to go away, though he was done with his fill of embarrassment. It was at that moment that he remembered that Yukimura still hadn't answered his original question. "Oh, I asked what was bothering you. What does my kissing anybody have to do with it?" Masamune asked.

Shit.

"Because..." Yukimura's throat went dry again. "Well, before, while we were in the upper level of the club, you..." He tried desperately to piece together a proper sentence but absolutely nothing wanted to be said. Finally he just gave up and after taking a deep breath, "I wanted to know if you actually intended on kissing me earlier or if it was an accident or if I was just going crazy!" He said in one fell swoop, leaving his face burning hot and him wanting to crumble away into dust and fly away with the wind.

Masamune was stunned into silence, unsure of what to do. He too wasn't sure what the moment back the club was, and he was sure that if Sasuke hadn't shown up, they would have kissed. Masamune then tried to find something to say in order to cover up what would have happened, but as he looked at Yukimura's red face, he found it impossible to lie to the boy seeing as how he was already suffering enough just by asking.

"Well... To be perfectly honest with you, if your friend hadn't shown up when he did I may have ended up... Kissing you. I'm not sure if that's what I intended to happen or not though!" he added quickly feeling this situation become even more and more awkward.

Yukimura listened to his friend intently, then after finally mustering enough courage, he spoke softly, "Would you have been okay with that...?"

Masamune froze knowing he had a tough choice to make. Should he tell the truth or should he lie? Which would end up being the worst choice to make? Giving up on thinking of an easy way out, Masamune took a deep breath and decided to tell the truth. Gathering up his courage he looked Yukimura in the eyes. "Honestly, I would have been okay with it... But please don't let that freak you out," he added as an afterthought. He would hate to lose Yukimura as a friendly rival this close after getting him.

Yukimura stared at him for a moment, too shocked and mentally flustered to speak. Finally he sighed and slammed his forehead to the table, "Finally, I feel better!" he exclaimed in his usual voice. He laughed a little bit, as if all of this awkward questioning could have been avoided had he just been direct (which was probably true). After he calmed down he sat up and smiled at Masamune, "I think it's you who needn't worry, Masamune-dono. Because, in truth... I-I would have been okay with it, too." This time, Yukimura kept his eyes locked on Masamune. Seeing as the man seemed to relax a little at the reassurance, he continued, "Growing up, I never really took much of an interest in relationships, I guess. I was just busy doing my own thing and… Well, it's not much of an issue for me either way, but please understand when I say you don't have to feel uncomfortable about matters like this with me." In the span of a couple hours, they managed to open up to each other a lot, and by now Yukimura felt comfortable enough to talk to Masamune without letting his social anxiety kick in... for the most part.

Masamune knew he was elated by what Yukimura had just shared with him, but how should he react? Should he shout loudly out of relief and happiness? Should he further advance on Yukimura? Should make subtle hints to him? Should he just sit there like an idiot with his mouth open? Yes, because that's all that he was capable at the moment. His mind had shut down replaced by a high giddiness floating about him. He was unable to speak or move, even though his face was embarrassingly happy.

Yukimura closely studied Masamune for a bit, and noticed that something seemed a little off. He waved a hand in front of Masamune's face, but that didn't help. As his curiosity increased, Yukimura smirked deviously and leaned in really close to Masamune's face, a good two inches apart. Seeing he still didn't know how to react, Yukimura drew in a deep breath and blew in his face. Upon seeing the man flinch and back away from the sudden gust of air, Yukimura burst into laughter and sprinted away down the path they came, instigating a chase.

Masamune growled and started chasing after Yukimura. "Sanada! I'm gonna get you! Don't think you'll get off easy!" he shouted hustling after Yukimura.

They ran all the way back to the club, Yukimura practically throwing the doors open and jumping over tables until he fell to his knees from running so hard (and laughing so hard at that).

"Woah there, tiger, what the hell happened?" Motochika asked from the bar. He was currently snacking on a few things he picked up from a convenience store down the street and was downing a bottle of green tea.

"Uh..." Yukimura didn't know how to answer that, but it's not like he had the breath to anyway. Instead he stood up and glanced at the door waiting for them to open once again.

Masamune charged into the room seeing nothing but Yukimura trapped. Taking full advantage of this situation, Masamune pounced and tackled Yukimura back to the ground. "Ha! I've caught you. Don't think you're gonna get off with just a tackle either for that little stunt. Try this on for size!" he exclaimed blowing into Yukimura's face with more force than Yukimura had used. Whenever he would run out of breath, he would just inhale and blow into Yukimura's face once again. Yukimura squirmed and wriggled underneath Masamune trying to break free of the air blowing on his face.

"Masamune-dono! S-Stop!" Yukimura shouted in between laughter and genuine panic. Masamune laughed and smirked down at Yukimura.

"If you want me to stop, then make me," Masamune cooed, blowing a soft and quick blow to Yukimura's face. Yukimura pouted at Masamune, sending a quick jab of guilt through him. Though, in the midst of his guilt, Masamune felt something else. It was something he was unfamiliar with but something he couldn't stop. Taking both him and Yukimura by surprise, he quickly closed the distance between them and pressed his lips to Yukimura's.

Choking on the cookie he was eating, Motochika sprang from his chair and shouted unintelligible things, "W-What the- DATE MASAM- WHAT THE HELL?!" He coughed and looked around for Keiji, but he remembered he left to put the boxes of paint away, "Fuck, of all times to... IEYASU!" He called as he ran to get him from upstairs.

While Motochika was freaking out, Yukimura was completely frozen under Masamune's body. He tried to verbally protest and push him off, but knew it was useless as Masamune just pressed harder into the kiss. To prevent any further headaches, Yukimura let his eyes slide shut and he surrendered to the sweet (but rough) sensation. Though it was only supposed to be a short kiss, Masamune couldn't bring himself to pull away now. The high giddiness from before had returned tenfold, and he didn't want it to end. He pressed harder into the kiss, moving his lips clumsily against Yukimura's, enjoying however much of this kiss he could.

Unable to fight Masamune's growing curiosity, Yukimura opened his mouth ever so slightly to allow for breath, but instead was met with the other's tongue running along his own. He blushed furiously and quickly grabbed a fistful of Masamune's jacket. He didn't pull or push away though, only held on tightly as a means of anchoring himself to reality. As they clumsily danced further into the kiss, a soft but content sound rose from Yukimura and just like that, his eyes shot open and he moved his hands to Masamune's chest, roughly pushing him away. He stared at the man above him with nothing but dazed shock on his face. He panted heavily, not realizing just how out of breath he was from the kiss.

Also panting heavily, Masamune looked to Yukimura for answers why he was pushed away when he thought they were both enjoying the kiss. That's when the previous events finally registered in his head. He quickly scrambled backwards away from Yukimura. "Shit! Um... Sorry! That was- I didn't mean to- I mean I didn't- I just," He finally gave up on his stuttering and quickly left the room. He scrambled up the stairs towards where Motochika and Ieyasu were talking suspiciously together. Masamune grabbed Motochika's jacket and started pulling him away. "Hi, Ieyasu! Bye, Ieyasu. We REALLY need to get home now, so I'll see you later!" Masamune frantically pulled Motochika downstairs, breezing by where Yukimura sat, still in shock at the recent turn of events. Seeing Motochika slow down to call out to Yukimura, Masamune shoved Motochika outside and towards his motorcycle. He hopped in the side car and held out the keys to Chosokabe. "Drive home. Now. Now, let's go. Please just _HURRY UP_."

"Woah, slow down there, you sly sonnuva bitch!" Motochika smirked and took the keys, stuffing them in his pocket to trap his friend, "I don't think it's really gentleman-like of you to leave the poor guy like that. Not after that rather steamy display." He whistled a mocking tune and laughed, then wrestled Masamune out of the side car and pushed him back toward the club entrance. "Get yer ass back inside." He demanded.

Meanwhile inside, Yukimura sat up and had a hand over his mouth, unsure of how to feel. He contributed to the kiss. He let it happen. _And_ he... he moaned?

"SO SHAMEFUL!" He shouted and buried his face in his hands, falling back to the floor. He looked up and saw Ieyasu laughing at him and his face just got redder, "I-It's not funny, Ieyasu-dono!" He groaned and got up, hastily marching over to get his plaid jacket. He shoved his arms in the sleeves, all the while trying to shake out the shameful thoughts from his mind.

"Sorry, I don't mean to laugh my friend, but you look so happy. I know you aren't the type for love, so knowing that you've finally kissed someone is a major accomplishment," Ieyasu said calmly. He smiled as he heard loud voices from outside. "Your bond with him is already so strong. I can only imagine how much stronger it will be over time. You've gotten yourself a once in a lifetime encounter, Yukimura. Consider yourself lucky." Yukimura paused in his shuffling around to glance at Ieyasu. Everything he had just said, he had said in earnest- though most everything he says is in earnest.

"Ieyasu-dono, but we're supposed to be rivals and yet I… I… S-So shameless!" Yukimura shouted hiding his red face in his hands as he once more remembered the kiss. Ieyasu gave a short chuckle.

"So what if you're rivals? Mitsunari is my rival and yet I want to become closer to him as well. I envy your relationship with Masamune since Mitsunari seems to want to have nothing to do with me lately," Ieyasu trailed off, an almost pained look on his face. As Yukimura was about to console him, a carefree smile once again played on his face. "Instead of worrying so much about small things as that, just enjoy things as they are and have fun. I'm sure Masamune wants the same as well."

Just then, the door opened once again. Masamune walked inside with a determined yet considerably red face followed closely behind a smugly grinning Motochika. Masamune made his way over to Yukimura, stopping a few feet in front of him. He took a deep calming breath before looking Yukimura in the eyes. "I'm not sure why I did what I did and I didn't mean to do it, but I am not going to take it back. It may be a bit confusing, but I don't care so long as our rivalry isn't affect by this. I don't want anything to get between our rivalry until someone wins. Nothing like that is gonna happen again, not until I beat you at least," Masamune said, smirking at Yukimura towards the end.

Yukimura smiled, knowing that nothing had changed between him and Masamune. It was an overwhelming feeling knowing that he was that relieved by this news, but that relief was the least of Yukimura's worries now. He gave Masamune a cheeky smirk knowing full well that last comment was made to tease him. "I think you mean not until _I _beat you, Masamune-dono," Yukimura said with a confident chuckle. Masamune growled in annoyance.

"Yeah right, Sanada! The whole crowd will be calling my name in the future, not yours! You can bet on that!" Masamune argued moving towards Yukimura, gearing to start an argument. Motochika quickly grabbed Masamune from under his arms and started pulling him back.

"And this is where we leave now. Ieyasu, tell Keiji I have to get him home. I'll come back if he still needs help, but it is about time we returned. Later, bitches," Motochika called, pulling a very annoyed Masamune along with him. He continued shouting and struggling against Motochika until they were out the door. Once the arguing had stopped and the sound of the motorcycle had faded away, Yukimura and Ieyasu both burst into laughter.

"I look forward to the day we dance against each other again, Masamune-dono," Yukimura smiled, his laughter finally dying down.

Masamune and Motochika sat on the couch after eating dinner that night. Masamune was lazily lounging, barely paying any attention to the action movie on the t.v. He found himself distracted by the sly glances Motochika would slip Masamune every once in a while. Finally at his wit's end, Masamune turned to glare at Motochika. "What?" he asked snappily. Motochika gave a childish snort of laughter; something that let Masamune know what was coming next would be unpleasant.

"That was some kiss, huh?" Motochika asked slyly. Masamune blushed and quickly moved his hands to his ears.

"Nope! We are not gonna talk about this! Not now, not ever!" Masamune shouted, trying to block out what Motochika was saying.

"Well get over it, you sonnuva bitch, because we're talking about it, right here, right now," Motochika demanded.

"La la la la! I can't hear you!" Masamune shouted, trying to drown out Motochika. Motochika glared at Masamune and moved his arms down.

"Masamune, cut the crap and let's get serious. I just wanna know what's going on. I thought you hated him after all, so imagine my surprise when I see you kiss him so suddenly. I just wanna know what happened between you two to change things like that," Motochika rationed. Masamune frowned before reclaiming his captured hands. He glanced away from Motochika, a bit embarrassed.

"I never hated the guy. Sure I was angry, but more than anything I really respected his skill. I just felt stupid after finding out he was a guy. Imagine how you would feel if after hitting on Magoichi you found out she was a guy," Masamune supplied. Motochika grimaced and open his mouth to object, but Masamune cut in again. "Sorry, that was a bad comparison and not really fair to you. Plus Magoichi would kill me if she found out I was calling her a man, so don't tell her I said that. But anyways, Yukimura and I, we got to talking and… We just hit it off, I guess. I don't really know what's going on now either, but I do like Yukimura. Though I like him, I'm not just gonna let him beat me in dancing either."

Motochika sat in thought, absorbing what Masamune had told him. Everything made sense to him, and he was more than happy for Masamune but one thing still stood out to him… "If you hit on him when you thought he was a girl, then why do you still like him when you know he's a boy?" Motochika asked. Masamune blushed furiously. He grabbed the pillow from the couch and shoved it in Motochika's face.

"Don't ask me! Why would I know?" Masamune shouted. He then ran upstairs to his room, locking himself inside with a loud slam. Motochika grabbed onto the pillow shoved in his face and began to think.

_So Masamune is gay… or at least bisexual, he's got his own issues to work out. I guess he's the only- wait… Mitsunari likes to wear those skinny jeans and stuff, and he had two dads before they died... And he's been having issues with Ieyasu a lot lately, so he's got his own issues to work out. I guess Ieyasu is the only normal one lef- wait. He's having issues with Mitsunari… And I can tell that he at least doesn't hate Mitsunari. If anything it's like he wants to get closer to him… Who do I have to talk to about all of this? There's Magoichi! Wait… I can't talk to her about this, and then there's that bastard Keiji. _"I don't have any good friends," Motochika finally said aloud, letting the revelation become fact as he groaned in defeat. Kojuro, who had just finished the dishes in the kitchen, came into the living room and heard Motochika speak.

"What was that Motochika-san?" Kojuro asked. Motochika turned to Kojuro.

"I've got some bad friends, and I don't have anyone to talk to about it," he sighed.

"I'm sure that's not true. What kind of friends do you have?"

"Well, one is having gay daddy problems and is taking that out on my other friend who seems to have a thing for him. Another friend is having his own issues about liking some guy he used to not like and almost hated, and then my only other friend left I kinda… have a thing for. But it's hard talking to her because some other bastard has a thing for her and takes up most of her time."

"Well, I can't condone those issues, though I myself would never partake in that kind of lifestyle. I guess as long as the issues work themselves out then one can live their life… that way. I can just say that I am proud of you and Masamune-sama for not letting your friends influence you to… that lifestyle," Kojuro said proudly, a small smile on his face. Motochika gave a nervous laugh, reading Kojuro's awkward feelings like a book by the way he was speaking.

"But uh, Kojuro… Masamune is one of the guys I was talking about," Motochika trailed off, feeling the levels of awkward rise within the situation. Kojuro froze, then the shock took over his face.

"What?! Ma-Masamune-sama!" Kojuro shouted, working his way upstairs. Motochika instantly felt a bit of pity for his friend when he heard the door open. Their shouts could be heard all the way downstairs, and Motochika was sure this was more awkward for Masamune than it was for him. He sighed and flopped on the couch, the pillow covering his face.

'_I need new friends.'_

* * *

Two weeks had passed since that eventful day, and neither Yukimura nor Masamune made it to the event held at the club then. Keiji sighed as he stood at the bar watching the television on the opposite wall. His glance shifted between the screen and that of his cellphone, as he was expecting at least someone to give him some details on the two love birds' conditions.

But alas, no word came.

"Man, I didn't think matchmaking would be this hard," he groaned, resting his chin in his open palm. Just then, he saw a familiar brunette come strolling into the club. He wore signature red attire and his long brown hair was pulled back into a ponytail, and Keiji couldn't help but beam a wide smile, "Yukimura-kun!"

"Nice to see you again, Maeda-dono," Yukimura greeted, Ieyasu following behind him, "My apologies for not having stopped by in a while. I've been busy practicing my dancing."

"I've heard the details, no need for those innocent excuses." Keiji smirked inwardly, a devious glint in his eyes. Yukimura immediately got the hint and he turned on his heel, his face flushed a deep shade of red rivaling his plaid jacket. Keiji laughed and watched as the boy easily made his way up the stairs to the upper floor, his second home. On that note, he turned to Ieyasu, who was patiently waiting out Keiji's distractions, "So how've things been? I haven't heard from neither you or Motochika-san."

"They actually haven't been communicating much, and I've not seen any of Masamune lately either," Ieyasu frowned, crossing his arms as he sighed in disappointment, "These two are harder to force together than they are to challenge each other. It makes me question whether their bonds are as strong as I thought they were, in the right sense I mean."

Keiji nodded in agreement, "They haven't shown up here for the past two weeks, and it's starting to worry me a little bit... From what I've gathered, they sound more like sexually frustrated enemies than potential passionate lovers. I wonder if we were wrong after all?" Ieyasu laughed at the choice of words, but even then his thoughts were in sync with the street artist's.

Before the two could get comfortable in their silence of defeat, Ieyasu's cellphone buzzed in his pocket, "Ah, it's Motochika!"

"_Date's pretty fired up right now and looking for a challenge. We're on our way to the club now, you and Yukimura busy?" _read the text.

Keiji laughed, "Looks like we've got ourselves a potential encounter!"


End file.
